My wife won’t do Twitter, Facebook or any type of Social Media. She finds it intrusive. And who am I to doubt her wisdom.

I have friends who live their lives publicly on Facebook, telling their kids they love them on-line but struggling to communicate with them face-to-face.

I know people who use Twitter to broadcast announcement after announcement with no consideration for those following.

And there must be a million people who just enjoy reading other’s posts and tweets with no interest in getting involved with the conversation.

Yes – the online social network is just like real life, with shouters, listeners, conversationalists and everything in between.

Who are you?

Be Brilliant,

Michael

We’d love to know what you think of our social media presence.

On Facebook we have the official Michael Heppell page at: www.facebook.com/michaelheppellofficial

On Twitter Michael tweets from here: www.twitter.com/michaelheppell

Plus for our exciting new campaign Save A Million Hours in May we have a page here: www.facebook.com/saveanhour

And we have a Save An Hour Twitter feed here: www.twitter.com/saveanhour
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What if we did it faster?

What if we stopped doing what we do?

What if we could do it for half the price?

What if we could sell this to China?

What if we decided to be the best in the world?

What if our best customer left?

What if our product became obsolete?

What if the boss has got it wrong?

What if you were ten years younger?

What if you were twenty years older?

What if you had an extra hour every day?

What if you became famous for something?

What if…
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In 1997 Tom Hooper was directing a UK kids drama called Byker Grove. Today he wakes up as an Academy Award winner as Best Director for The Kings Speech.

I wonder whether when he was directing difficult teenagers in Newcastle’s East End he thought he’d go on to win an Oscar for his work?

My guess is like most successful people he thought about it every day.

When you find something worth pursuing and create a burning desire you will do anything to make it become a reality and Tom knew he wanted to be a director from the age of 12.

His first TV series was cancelled, he didn’t give up.

Byker Grove was described by some of his peers as ‘not real work’, he didn’t give up.

The Kings Speech was off and on for years before it was made, he didn’t give up.

I think you know where this one’s going… so in the spirit of brevity I’ll leave you with a quote.

‘The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it’. Michelangelo

Be Brilliant,

Michael

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You’re rubbish at complaining. So am I. And I think I know why.

The problem with complaining isn’t the getting it off your chest bit, it’s the moment immediately afterwards when you come to the point where someone (anyone) has to take responsibility.

I believe responsibility means the ability to respond. But just try complaining about poor service, a low quality product or any other reason why you feel ripped off and you’ll quickly see a poor level of ability to respond.

Last week, Christine & I were having a meal and hers was tasteless, bland and really didn’t have much going for it. She left most of it and when the table was cleared, our server looked at the half full bowl and asked, ‘How was everything?’

‘I’ll be honest with you, not so good this time’, Christine said, before telling her what was wrong with the food.

When our bill arrived I half hoped, as a gesture, they would have missed off the dodgy main but it was there. We paid and on the way out bumped into the manager, who again asked us how did we enjoy our meal.

This time it was my turn. So I told her and added how, as customers who had supported this particular chain of noodle restaurants for many years, we were disappointed with today’s meal and ultimate bill.

This was the moment when I wish I had just said what millions of dissatisfied customers say when asked ‘How was everything?’ and mumbled a half-hearted ‘Fine’ as we left. For the next five minutes she insisted in educating me on: their food policy, courtesy mid meal check and countless other excuses for why the food wasn’t up to scratch and why we’d been charged the full amount rather than taking any responsibility.

I now felt bad. She felt bad. And I’ve made my mind up not to visit this particular branch again.

It could have been so much better.

Here’s what you MUST do when you receive a complaint.

1) Think about it as a gift. The fact that someone has taken the time to tell you what’s wrong is wonderful – if you learn from it.

2) Really listen to the complainer: Nod, take notes and replay key facts to demonstrate your understanding.

3) Thank them for their feedback. Tell them how much you appreciate their telling you.

4) Immediately apologise – and mean it.

5) If it’s the right thing to do, offer them something for their trouble. NEVER say, ‘What can we do for you?’ This just puts more pressure on the person who already feels uncomfortable for complaining.

6) Use the information you have to train your people or train yourself.

7) Close the loop. Let your customer know what you have done to change your ways of working following their feedback.

Be Brilliant!

Michael
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The one thing we can all agree on is that the quality of the sleep you do get plays a huge part in how you feel when you wake up.

I’m lucky, I’m able to drop off to sleep effortlessly, enjoy deep uninterrupted sleep, have amazing vivid dreams and wake up (usually) full of energy. But it wasn’t always that way. For many years I would experience night after night of lying awake followed by broken sleep and ultimately a rude awakening when I really needed a few more hours.

It’s estimated that 2 out of 3 people have sleep challenges.  If that’s you, read on, as I have 5 tips to help you to have a brilliant rest every night.

1) Start early. For at least an hour before you go to bed remove all stimulants from your life, such as the TV and using the Internet. Make it 4 hours for caffeine.

2) Find a smell which helps you to relax and put a dab on your pillow. Lavender is thought to have unique qualities to help sleep.

3) Write down the 5 most important things you have to do the next day. This is a great way to get some of the big stuff out of your head.

4) Listen to something relaxing. I created a brilliant programme called White Island which can really help with that. Details are below.

5) Practice. This seems like a daft one but by consciously focusing on what stops you from having a great nights sleep, adjusting your actions and testing some ideas, you can become better at sleeping. Just like learning any skill, great sleep comes to those who are committed to learning how.

A great night full of quality, deep relaxing sleep sets you up for the day, improves your mood plus it’s brilliant for your physical and mental health.

Here’s to a future of deep, uninterrupted sleep, sweet dreams and energised mornings.

Be Brilliant!

Michael

How often do you get the chance to properly relax? And by relax, I don’t mean crashing on the sofa in front of the TV with a glass in hand!

Deep relaxation means completely switching off from the world and focusing on yourself.

For many people the answer is not often enough or never.  And yet deep relaxation reduces stress, gives you energy, clears your mind, improves your physical health and makes you happier!

That’s why I created White Island as a place you can visit to help you rejuvenate and refresh.

It’s available as a Three Audio CD set or as an Instant mp3 download from our online shop.

If you’d like to know how to remove the stress, sleep better and create a positive future then read on.

CD One – This contains an introduction to White Island explaining the benefits of using these powerful tools and a little of the science behind why it works.

This is followed by your first relaxation session where you will create your very own White Island – the most beautiful place on earth.

CD Two – Features four deep relaxation sessions:

White Island for a Positive Life, which helps you to leave the negativity behind and focus on creating your own positive future.

White Island for Achieving Goals, to help you clearly create your vision and focus on achieving it.

White Island for Intuition, which helps you to develop a strong intuition, assisting with decision-making and self-management.

White Island for Sleep, for many people the most popular track on the programme.  Listen to this just before you go to sleep and you will have the deepest, undisrupted sleep you can remember in years and wake feeling refreshed and ready for a new day.

CD Three – Features two versions of the White Island relaxation music for when you’re ready to leave the guided visualisation behind and focus on creating your own features on White Island.

VERY SPECIAL OFFER

For one week only (or while stocks last) you can order your very own copy of White Island as a 3 CD set or Digital Download for half-price! That’s a saving of £10.

This offer is exclusively available to people who receive our MichaelHeppell.com newsletters.

For the Three CD version. To retrieve your discount enter the coupon code MHWHITEISLAND when you purchase. Click here to buy yours now for just £10.

For the MP3 Download Version. To retrieve your discount enter the coupon code MHWI080211 when you purchase. Click here
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I’m often asked to speak at events for free with the promise, that there will be quote ‘Loads of people – so think of all the free publicity you will get!’  My experience of those events is the only publicity you get is that you’ll speak for free.

If it’s worth it – it’s worth investing in.  I say investing deliberately because anything worthwhile will require a combination of your time, money and desire.

Now let’s Flip It.  What do you provide that people currently want or expect for free?  When you promote your product or service what makes people want to invest in you?

And the big one – what needs to change or what could you do better?

Be Brilliant!

Michael
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At this special time we’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support and loyalty over the year.

2010 has been an incredibly busy but exciting year for everyone here at Michael Heppell Ltd. We’ve been fortunate enough to work with some amazing people around the world.

We’ve also received hundreds of e-mails from people who’ve attended an event, read a book or simply wanted to say ‘hi’. Thank you to everyone who’s done so – it makes all that we do worthwhile!

We are still pushing forward in our goal to positively influence a million lives and currently we stand just short of 900,000. So if you know someone who would benefit from our message, please pass them a link to our 90 Days of Brilliance newsletter – it’s at the bottom of this page. It’s completely free and we’re sure it will brighten their day.

From everyone at Michael Heppell, we wish you a very happy and peaceful Christmas as well as a prosperous 2011.

And of course… Be Brilliant!

The Michael Heppell Team

Before you go, a couple of extra thoughts

Think Your Way To A Brilliant Christmas!

If you’re new to MichaelHeppell.com you may not have read Michael’s Christmas newsletter from 2008 called ‘Think Your Way To A Brilliant Christmas’; you can view it in our newsletter archive here http://bit.ly/ThinkChristmas08

Michael Live In Manchester

Michael will be presenting a rare live public event in Manchester on Thursday 13th January 2011.  Flip It for Business is a fast moving, high impact presentation designed to show business leaders how to use the Flip It tools in a business environment.

This event is hosted by The Business Network North – details can be found here.

90 Days of Brilliance link: http://www.michaelheppell.com/resourcesindex/90-days-of-brilliance/

A couple of weeks ago I asked if you’d spend a minute of your time answering our short survey ‘What’s Your Problem?’

WOW! You certainly wanted to share with us; within one hour we had over 400 responses. This number is now in excess of 1,000.

What scored highest?

I asked you to select as many of the problems that applied from the 18 options listed. There was one overwhelming winner (with a whopping 49%) Money Worries.

It won’t come as a huge surprise that money is on a lot of people’s minds, especially considering the current economic climate. The question is, why do you worry so much and more importantly what can you do about it?

How to Eliminate Money Worry

In response to the survey results I’ve recorded a special short audio programme called ‘How to Eliminate Money Worry’.

I cover a range of proven tools and techniques designed to help you eliminate money worry NOW.

You can listen to a sample and download the full version on the Digital Michael Page on my new www.michaelheppell.com website. Just click here and you’ll be taken straight there.

And as for the rest of your problems – watch this space! The Number 2 problem and solution will be listed next week.

Be Brilliant!

Michael

We are delighted to announce that ‘Flip It’ has recently become the Number 1 Best Selling Personal Development book in the UK this year!

If you’re looking for a stocking filler, a gift for an awkward relative or maybe something for your Secret Santa, why not order a copy? You can get yours right here and we’ll even get Michael to sign it!

“Flip It is the perfect Christmas present. I ordered ten copies!”
Chris Evans – Radio 2 DJ

Today sees the launch of an all new www.michaelheppell.com

I’d love for you take a few minutes to look at the new website and if you could let us have some feedback that would be amazing! We plan to run this version for December whilst learning from your feedback then updating again in the New Year.

The website was created in house by our very own Alastair Walker with the amazing guys at Carrot Media (www.carrotmedialtd.com) and features feedback and comments from you!

And because it’s new, and because we appreciate your loyalty we’ve added some rather special offers in our online shop too. Including half price audio programmes and some super offers on our best selling books.

Dive in and take a look now – I think you’ll like it.

Be Brilliant!

Michael

p.s. Please e-mail feedback to info@michaelheppell.com