You Get One Chance To Make A Good First Impression.

We'll call today's video. You get one chance to make a good first impression. This should go bare without saying, but I see it repeatedly in today's world because I mentor a lot of young people or people come to me or referred to me about working in insurance or working for themselves or just about how to start their career from coaching for 12 plus years for friends that have kids, just friends in general. I get a lot of people say, hey, can you talk to this young guy, this young lady about stuff? And every so often I'm just astounded at the first impression these people make. If you're asking me to spend some of my valuable time mentoring you, or perhaps you're coming to a job interview or even this could be your first day on the job. Maybe Jack's got an H vac business. This could be the first time you meet a client and your people are all, look, they put on a three day bender and they're still drunk. The first impressions, regardless of what you think or care, make a huge difference. And you want to set yourself off on the right foot every time you meet somebody for the first time, a business for the first time, it can be a huge differentiator between you and any other business, any other person if you're on an interview. I mean, when Riley went to his interview with Blanchard Public Schools, his first job at a high school, you know, we were like, hey bud, let's get you some clothes. He came in there, nice slacks, shirt, a blazer, looking good, set a good first impression. And that goes from the moment you enter the property or the place. You're there early. As we've always said, you're not early, you're late. So get there early, be dressed appropriately and as sharp as you can. I've had people come in street clothes, T shirts, athletic wear for interviews. Sorry. If that's how you think about yourself and me the first time we meet, it only goes downhill from there. So think about how you dress, think about how you talk, always talk appropriately and act appropriately. I had a guy from my fraternity that one of our board members referred and said, hey Russ, this guy wants to get into, wants to be self employed, maybe get into business. Would you mind talking to him? Said, sure, I'll meet him for lunch. The guy had like four beers at lunch. I wasn't even drinking. If I had ordered a beer, perhaps he could order a beer. I didn't have a single beer and the cat had four beers and he was just a buffoon. And I ended the conversation And I didn't. I said, you know, I just don't have time to work with you. I should have been a little bit nicer and told him how stupid he was for doing that. But I did tell one of the housing board members that I'm friends with, so maybe he got back to him. But I was, I was astounded. I don't know if you're trying to impress me. It wasn't impressive, it was a show of stupidity. And he was a nice kid. Maybe he had a chance working for me or some of my friends, but I couldn't refer him out or anything because of that. So that's your first impression. It's going to be the lasting impression. You're starting a new job as a nurse. You want to get there early, you want to be dressed the best you can, best attitude. Start off on a strong foot. And they always remember, hey, I remember the first day that kid started. We knew something good. She was really a good person just because of how she came in here and swept in with a great attitude and all that. Like I said, this should go without saying. This should be one of those conversations that nobody has to have. But unfortunately I see it on a regular basis, even going to meetings, I go to insurance meetings. There are guys there in athletic wear with a baseball hat turned fucking backwards. And so it's supposed to slap them off their head. You know, I just, I hate that that's a professional setting is nowhere to wear a baseball hat unless you're a coach, much less backwards. When you're like a 30 year old man, it just says volumes about you, your work ethic and how you view the world. And if you want to think it's just cool and rolling with the flow, that's on you. Because most people don't think that way. They think it's stupid. And I've been a bit harsh here because I'm an old man. But these are the things that when you're young and you're dealing with older employees, maybe older people that own a business that you're working for is maybe a vendor like Jack Riley. Dealing with parents, other coaches, administration, that's just how it is. You'll be judged heavily on that first impression and frankly other ones after that. So always dress appropriately, always have, you know, the best attitude, get plenty of sleep, all those little things that add up because you never know how that could change you. Because if someone says, hey, I need somebody, here's a sharp kid. This kid always shows up on time early, dressed good Attitude works hard, does what we ask. You never know that could lead you. That's what's helped me in my life. When I went into sales, I'd done well as a region operations unit, kind of a three, four state coordinator. I had 150 company cars, one or 200 part time people. I ordered stuff for multiple states. And the sales rep, sales manager in Oklahoma City knew me and knew that I did really well. And he gave me a chance based on how well I did. So you just never know what's, what that's going to influence. Especially when you're in like the service industry. Or maybe Riley, if you're coaching parents, see that coaches that go out there, like Riley's coach, he had a coach like this that would get kicked out of multiple games a year. That's just, that's ridiculous. That doesn't get you anywhere. That just gets you a bad reputation. And those things follow you as well through the kid that's always late, kid that's always got a bad attitude, the kid that shows up half dressed. People remember that as well. So set yourself off in the best foot you can. Any new job, any new relationship, any new venture, always come out of the gate swinging. Be it early, looking good, good attitude, prepared. You know you didn't forget all your stuff for a meeting. It sets you so far apart from the rest of the pack. People can't help but want to work with you and use you. Because being in business for 28 years and seeing people that want to apply for jobs for me these days or my friends or listening to people when I talk with other business owners, the bar is set pretty freaking low. But we don't want to just step over it, we want to jump over it. Okay? So we want to maximize that and be so far ahead of the rest of the pack that people can't help but love you, want to promote you, want to be around you. That's the kind of people we want to be. So shouldn't have to say it, but maybe you need to watch this every so often. It's a good reminder.