BALANCING ACT: BLENDING LIFE, WORK, AND RELATIONSHIPS® A free monthly newsletter about balancing life, work, and relationships based on the books and popular workshops conducted by Alan Weiss, Ph.D.

 
 

Balancing Act®: The Newsletter

(No. 307, February 2025)

BALANCING ACT: BLENDING LIFE, WORK, AND RELATIONSHIPS®

A free monthly newsletter about balancing life, work, and relationships based on the books and popular workshops conducted by Alan Weiss, Ph.D. Past copies are archived on our web site: http://www.summitconsulting.com

Copyright 2025 Alan Weiss. All rights reserved. 

ISSN 1934-3116

Balancing Act® is our registered trademark. You are encouraged to share the contents with others with appropriate attribution. Please use the ® whenever the phrase “Balancing Act” is used in connection with this newsletter or our workshops.

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Balancing Act® is in four sections based on famous quotations:

  1. Essays
  2. Musings
  3. Developmental Stuff
  4. ORTIYKMWOYBNT-O Department

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Essays

People Too Eager to Talk

Do you find sometimes that people ask a question that’s actually a narrative of their own views? (This is especially common with reporters talking to politicians.) Or have you been asked a question and the asker interrupts you as you respond with views of his or her own? I find that these people are less interested in learning than in sampling their own points of view with others. I have never learned how to learn while I’m speaking, only when I’m listening.

Hubris

We feel we’re far more in charge than we are. Our UPS driver, who’s a great guy, has encouraged me to let my 80-pound German Shepherd out when he arrives, and Royce runs out full steam ahead, growling and barking. (Shepherds can run at about 32 miles per hour, so picture 80 pounds hitting you at that speed.) Just before Royce’s arrival the UPS guy hollers, “Royce! Sit!” Royce comes to a screeching halt and receives a nice biscuit. He then returns to the house. The UPS guy thinks he’s trained Royce, but I think he has that reversed.

The Rheostat

Life is not an “on/off” switch. It’s not about up or down, left or right, forward or reverse. It’s about degrees. We’re not going to see the US population driving solely electric cars, no matter what the existential government “mandates” may be. That’s because there’s no efficient way to provide that kind of national power grid, internal combustion engine cars will continue to be used for their natural lifespans, we’re not about to put oil companies out of business, and some people will resist the change in any case. Oh, and then there’s hydrogen….

Local Black Holes

Scientists have launched telescopes that can look a gazillion light years away into deepest space, discovered black holes that are hidden and disguised, and determined how Pluto—the quasi-planet—captured a moon. But we don’t know much about what lives at the bottom of the seas, or what’s really in the center of the earth, or how to prevent and cure the common cold. In a recent exploration in Peru, scientists discover over 40 new species of animals. Maybe the real black holes are in our rathe blasé approach to our own world. (Al Gore predicted in 2013 that all the arctic ice would be gone by now. And that was after he invented the internet.)

Musings

All the successful people I’ve worked with have experienced defeats, failures, and setbacks. I certainly have, and I still have them on occasion. That’s because successful people tend to take prudent risk, innovate, and attempt new adventures.

I may have been disappointed or even angered when a publisher has rejected one of my book proposals, but I tried to learn why and what, if anything, I could have done differently and better. I’ve always tried to ask a prospect who rejected my proposal, “What could I have done better to try to earn your business?”

We all know people, however, who blame failure on others, on circumstances, on bad luck, on climate change. If one has chosen a losing candidate’s side in an election, it can be intimidating to face the fact that most people backed someone else. Perhaps your candidate was truly better, but perhaps you just made a wrong choice. In any case, you have to accept the results. Whining, complaining, writing letters to the editor, and continuing attempts to mock the winner—this is wasted energy.

If you don’t get the sale, it wasn’t the prospect’s fault. If you don’t get a hit at bat, it’s not the coach’s fault. If rain delays a flight and you’ll be late for an important meeting, it’s not the airline’s fault. We all blame our parents at times, and it’s no longer their fault. (There’s a category on my blog called, “It’s not your mother’s fault.”)

We need to take control of our lives. Here’s an example from the book Marshall Goldsmith and I wrote, Lifestorming (Wiley).

There are events we can’t control—the weather, the lottery, IRS audits, sports results—but there is a lot we can control, either through preventive actions or contingent actions (AKA: “Plan B”).

There’s always another game, always another election, always another flight. But whining is not a successful option.

Development Opportunities
Alan Weiss's Zoom Workshops 2025

Zoom Workshops 2025:

February is on Fearlessness! Zoom Workshops 2025: When you join for the year, you receive the past videos, or you can sign up for individual sessions:

February 4: Fearlessness. How to be bold and assertive in any situation.
March 4: Conversation with a star. A candid conversation with a success in my community.
April 8: Creating unsolicited referrals. An oxymoron, perhaps, but there is a system.
May 6: Gaining financial security. Stop guessing about "how much is enough."
June 3: Conversation with a star. A candid conversation with a success in my community.
July 8: Dramatic conversational pivot points. How to move any conversation to your destination.
August 12: Improving and sustaining an abundance mentality. Understanding that abundance is not what you have but rather who you are.
September 9: Conversation with a star. A candid conversation with a success in my community.
October 7: Self-awareness and self-honesty. The greatest lies are the ones we tell ourselves and believe.
November 4: Questions you always wanted to ask. I'll amass the questions, but you're invited to comment. 
December 9: High potential marketing for 2026. the key market segments and avenues to reach them.

Each session is $450 or $5,000 for the year. Recordings are included within 24 hours. Add $2,500 for five, 30-minute coaching sessions one-on-one.
Time: 10:30-12:00 US Eastern Time. 

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An Alan Live Experience: Beyond Success

An Alan Live Experience: Beyond Success

What happens when you’re meeting your aspirations, when your lifestyle is fabulous, and your prospects are excellent? How much is “enough”? Is there a “retirement”? How do you change (or sell) your business and IP? Are philanthropy, volunteering, and service right for you? Are you able to care for family and important others? What will keep you excited and positive—and “youthful”?

We’ll explore this and more over two days of intense discussion and exercises in a small group. We’ll get together in Los Angeles for two 9-to-4 days, June 11 and 12, including a reception. As you know, you’ll learn a lot from your colleagues and peers in that room. $7,500.

LEARN MORE
Master Master Class 2025

Master Master Class 2025

I’m happy to once again offer the unique Master Master Class in 2025. It will be in the exquisite Newport area on March 25-27, 2.5 days of learning, experimenting, and building new collegial relationships.

We will achieve:

  • New offerings and IP for a volatile, No Normal® world

  • A consistent “voice” of expertise in your market—a “go to” magnetism and attraction.
  • The identification and evaluation of your existing “body of work” to be repurposed and exploited for passive income.
  • A book idea—commercially published or self-published, hard copy or electronic, written by you or “ghosted”—that will establish and perpetuate your stature.
  • The HOV lane for advisory work with high fees and low labor.
  • The confidence and presence to deal successfully with anyone at any time in any environment. (Very special role plays.)

This will be all new material from prior Master Classes. The fee will be $15,000 which includes lodging and most meals and a reception. (This will probably be the last Master Class I conduct in person, on site. No, I’m not kidding.) I have three people already attending simply by hearing me discuss this informally. My limit is a dozen people. It will not be recorded, but you may attend by Zoom, although I caution you on the intrinsic disadvantages of so doing. Attendees may record the session on their own.

Write me to apply: https://alanweiss.com/growth-experiences/master-master-class-2025/

TWO Seats Remain!

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Thought Leadership Quarterly

Thought Leadership Quarterly

This is a Zoom series based on my popular Thought Leadership Workshops. I’ll be presenting ideas, based on current events and predictions, that will propel you to the forefront of recognition in your “public square.” This will be highly interactive and questions are welcome in advance. This will be 90 minutes and repeated twice to accommodate various time zones, once at 8 US Eastern Time and once at 5 US Eastern Time the same day.

March 20, June 17, September 23, December 18, $2,000 for the series. Note that participants from the Delray FL Thought Leadership Conference can attend for free!!

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Million Dollar Consulting® Global Online Program

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.

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Million Dollar Consulting® Global Online Program ADVANCED

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.

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Million Dollar Consulting® Global Online Program GRADUATE

New: Million Dollar Consulting® for the World Graduate

Another 12 modules with videos by me and your peers on contemporary issues such as Raising Fees Aggressively, How to Be Consistently Interviewed, Maximizing Happiness, and Managing Multiple Projects. Join the people from 57 countries who are availing themselves of this inexpensive way to dramatically grow their businesses in any economic times. How does 100:1 ROI sound?

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I'm an Old Cowhand...

After getting some gifts for Christmas that required electrical connections, I rearranged by garage workbench to accommodate everything, careful to use my surge protector strip for sensitive devices. After I had created a beautiful sculpture of wiring, nothing worked. I flipped switches and unplugged and replugged. Nothing.

 

Finally, I began tracing the routes of all the wiring and discovered, after a serpentine journey, that I had plugged the extension strip surge protector……into itself.

Alan Weiss’s Balancing Act® Newsletter is a registered trademark of Alan Weiss and Summit Consulting Group, Inc.
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