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. 314, September 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:

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

Follow me on X. Every day I provide 3-5 brief, pithy pieces of advice for growth.

Join the thousands who read these “quick hits” every morning. Over 9,500 followers! Why aren’t you among them? AND FIND ME ON Facebook.

Listen to my free Podcast Series on Apple Podcasts or on ContrarianConsulting.com: Alan Weiss’s The Uncomfortable Truth®. And watch A Minute with Alan® daily on all social media and my blog.

Essays

Problems

I was consulting with Mercedes Benz North America and asked for recommendations on how to improve service levels in the “stores” (as they called them). I visited their store with the highest service rating in the country, and the owner, Nick Viti, told me their secret was “problems.” He said that “Every problem a customer has is an opportunity for us to look good. You can’t avoid all problems in any business, but you can exploit them for your benefit.” If a new car purchaser told Viti Mercedes that their car had a scratch they just discovered, no one asked how they scratched their car in one day, they fixed the scratch for free and gave the buyer a loaner car.

Findings

Almost daily it’s reported that a body was found of a missing Antarctic explorer, who disappeared 60 years ago, or the body of someone who failed to return from Mt. Everest 40 years ago, or a Martian rock embedded in deep ice, or the fossils of previously unknown dinosaurs or (recently) a successful mammal that lived through the age of the dinosaurs but disappeared 50 million years ago. I’m betting that when enough Antarctic ice is drilled through (or melts) they’ll find an extraterrestrial artifact, obviously constructed by intelligent beings. What happens the next day?!

Profiles

As reported in USAToday, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator identifies an INTJ profile as that of a “data scientist” and as the perfectly matched job. Folks, I’M AN INTJ ON THAT TEST! There is significant, ongoing controversy about the validity and of the MBTI. Is this really how you want to assess job candidates and promotion prospects? Or did I follow the wrong career path?

Admissions

The great Johnny Carson used to say on his late-night talk show when learning something new, “I did not know that!” It was a simple admission of learning and improvement expressed to one of his guests who were expert in their field. “Iguanas will fall out of trees if the temperature drops below a certain point.” “I did not know that.” That is often the easiest way to greet new learning and avoid the ill effects of a combative ego. It’s also a good way to learn not to stand under palm trees if it gets unreasonably cold in the Caribbean.

Musings

We need to consider the “cost of success.” We are accustomed to “the cost of failure,” as we should be. But the cost of success is another clear risk at times.

Kodak owned the camera market. I had thought there was a law that all film had to be in yellow boxes. It turned out that Kodak used the color and dominated all display cases. At the time it was the “Cadillac of the industry."

People think that Kodak simply “missed” the digital revolution in favor of its emulsions and chemicals. But the truth is that Kodak was well aware of it but the leadership didn’t want to jeopardize the coming year’s profits on the course it had set, and figured they had plenty of time to make the switch.

They did not. A couple of weeks ago, Kodak announced its bankruptcy, a company that once was dominant in its market. But so was Sears, and so was Pan Am, and now I’d be worried about Southwest Air, Spirit Airlines, retailer Joann, and Red Lobster.

The cost of success is that decline can follow if you remain on that plateau. Companies must grow to survive, and they must innovate in order to grow. Remove innovation and delighting the customer and you’re left with the singular focus on profit. The cost of success is refusing to take even prudent risk, believing that someone who’s “good enough” shouldn’t be replaced, and that your existing customers will continue to patronize you without any effort on your part. (The Democrats in the US assumed a consistent following for whatever candidate they chose for the presidency, which had been a winning formula, but was insufficient this time.)

Don’t work with obnoxious buyers, unethical companies (pyramid schemes), projects that require excessive hours, or delayed payments. You may find them appealing because they deliver revenue in the short-term, but the cost of that success will kill you in the long-term.

Development Opportunities

 

The Proof Behind Social Proof

Has anyone ever asked you, “Give me an example of your point?” and you suddenly forgot how to speak? Or have you said, “Let me give you an example…,” and then have immediately gone into brain freeze without any ice cream? “Social Proof” comprises pragmatic examples that others can readily relate to which reinforce your point instantly.

When you “open the hood” on social proof, beneath is actually a psychological dynamic which creates normative pressure assuring that the actions of others are appropriate and should be imitated. A desire to “fit in” is created.

Join me for 90 minutes and fill your conversations, narrative, and collateral with social proof that will build your brand and fill your bank account. People ask what research I invest in for my success. I don’t. Then they ask what my investigative habits are. I don’t have any. “So what DO you do?” they ask.

I look around.

Learn how to look around to dominate conversations and close business: October 14, 2025. 10:30 to noon, US eastern time. Video and Zoom notes included. Fee: $350 until and including Sept. 30, $500 thereafter. https://alanweiss.com/growth-experiences/the-proof-behind-social-proof/

BOOK SPRINT

Begins Nov. 3rd, 60-minute weekly call to create a completed, professional book proposal in the following 60 days.

I have an 80%+ record placing these books with publishers for the last five years. I will introduce the proposal to agents and publishers (and so can you) and provide an additional 30 days of support for the book. The fee is only $4,500. Stop procrastinating and produce your first (or next) book, which is how I've attracted well over 90% of my business over the years. Register here and I'll send the simple prep work: https://alanweiss.com/store/quick-pay/

Million Dollar Consulting Remote College 2025

NEW!! Million Dollar Consulting® Remote College 2025:

September 10th: 9 am to Noon, September 11th: 9 am to Noon, September 12th: 9 am to 10:30 am

I’ve been providing this seminal educational and business development event for over two decades, with many people attending several times because there is so much content and so many changes to consider. That certainly applies today more than ever. This is my third virtual session. You will gain and learn and master:

  • Personalized approaches to your attraction, acquisition, implementation, and expansion of business.
  • Creation of increased revenues through a thorough exploration and a model of the three components of a new business.
  • Creation of an organized, guaranteed referral system and sample promotional approaches.
  • Building your brand to increase unsolicited inquiries from qualified buyers.
  • Increasing your media exposure.
  • Positioning yourself as an expert with a powerful brand.
  • Creation of a “larger picture,” abundance mentality.
  • Increasing the size of your proposals.
  • Decrease your labor through increased advisory work and appropriate creation of remote and passive offerings.
  • Improve your standing as a “results leader.”
  • Improving the quality of your life.

That’s right, 2.5 days that will produce a lifetime of results. There is preparatory reading I’ll provide and more I’ll recommend. You’ll also receive three books and extensive prep work,  30 days of post-program coaching from me (which will be extended if you’re already in a coaching relationship with me).

The fee is $12,000. (Graduates of the College may return for $6,000.) 

Register here: https://alanweiss.com/shop/gexp/2025-million-dollar-consulting-college-remote-workshop/

An Alan Live Experience: Beyond Success

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.

An Alan Live Experience: Beyond Success

Six Figures to Seven (6-2-7)

This is by far one of my most popular programs (along with the Million Dollar Consulting® College and Master Class). I’ve delivered it a total of six times on three continents, each time different, because the focus is on contemporary events and the near future. Join me to learn and apply how, for example, to: 

  • Charge over $100,000 for nearly every project.
  • Go beyond coaching to the more lucrative advisory work.
  • Build a brand that's on every buyer's mind.
  • Develop novel and new IP weekly and AD HOC.
  • Use language to control any conversation.
  • Stimulate evangelism as a sales strategy.
  • Create instant eBooks.
  • Dramatically improve your speaking and videos.
  • Overcome esteem issues dealing with buyers and fees.

There will be role plays, so if they make you fearful, I’ll have a “safe haven” for you (out in the hall). There will be a practicum, so if working on client issues makes you nervous, bring medication (enough to share, of course). So man-up. Woman-up. Human- up. Whatever. I cannot guarantee that you will accept and apply what I share with you. But you will have already paid me, so what the hell? I will promise that if you apply even some of my techniques consistently and completely, you’ll make a minimum 50:1 return on this investment. Social proof? Just ask my clients: https://alanweiss.com/testimonials/

Location: Chicago (Palmer House) Dates and Times: September 17-18, 9am to 4pm. Continental breakfast and lunch are included along with 30 days of follow-up Q&A based on program content and including a free Zoom session for registrants, based on the program.

Your investment: $5,000 https://alanweiss.com/shop/gexp/six-figures-to-seven-2025/

 

Alan Weiss's Zoom Workshops 2025

Zoom Workshops 2025:

2025: Join me September 9th for our next installment. If you can’t attend “live” you’ll still receive the video and the AI Companion transcript. 

https://alanweiss.com/growth-experiences/zoom-workshops-2025/ 

September 9: Conversation with a star, Steven Gaffney.

 

LEARN MORE

 

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 New York for two 9-to-4 days, September 24th and 25th, including a reception. As you know, you’ll learn a lot from your colleagues and peers in that room. $7,500. https://alanweiss.com/growth-experiences/beyond-success/

LEARN MORE
 
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. https://milliondollarconsultingcourse.com

LEARN MORE
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. https://alanweiss.com/growth-experiences/advanced-global-learning-program/

LEARN MORE
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? https://milliondollarconsultingcourse.com/graduate-learning-program/

LEARN MORE

I'm an Old Cowhand...

An electrician was in my house doing some work in the early days of my model train layout. "You did all the scenery?" he asked.

"I did," I said proudly.

"And the electrical connections underneath?"

"I did," I said proudly.

"May I see them?"

Out of "professional courtesy" I parted the drape covering the area below the platform. He glanced in and quickly withdrew.

"Tell no one that I ever saw this!" he said, retreating.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because if anyone thought this was my work I could lose my license."

Alan Weiss’s Balancing Act® Newsletter is a registered trademark of Alan Weiss and Summit Consulting Group, Inc.
© Alan Weiss 2025

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