The Edge Marketing

Half my immediate family trained in Judo and excelled in competition. I was always fascinated by the way in which my younger brother and sister (who were small for their age) were able to throw much bigger opponents with seemingly little effort.

I remember vividly watching a training session where my sister easily threw another student flat on his back. What staggered me though was the size of the student.

He was huge.

But she didn't strain or struggle. She simply appeared to step calmly backwards as he approached and let him fall over her in a big circle to land flat on his back.

I was amazed and by the look on his face so was he.

You may be mistaken in thinking he was going easy on her, but he wasn't. There was something in the way she reacted to his movement which gave her this enormous power.

Something in the technique she used that enabled her to lift a 20 stone man off the ground and plant him flat on his back.

I'm now going to share her secret with you with ideas for applying these principles to your own business...

Dr. Jigoro Kano, the founder of Judo devised a theory known as "kazushi" which essentially means, "Using a minimum amount of strength, it is possible to throw your opponent if you force him off balance by breaking his posture."

Kazushi (unbalancing your opponent) is effectively promoting the idea of "Minimum Effort - Maximum Impact". Which, by no coincidence, happens to be the key concept behind Lean Marketing.

This understanding of Kazushi is what gave my 10 year-old sister the power and belief she needed to throw the 20 stone man.

She yielded to his forward momentum and put her foot in a position low enough to act as a lever which had the effect of disturbing his balance with the full force of his own momentum and weight behind it.

In other words she harnessed all 20 stone of his weight, combined it with her own and used it all against him!

So How Do You Use Kazushi In Your Business?

Key #1 - Balance Jim Rohn once said, "The same wind blows on us all, what matters is the set of the sail." You need to make balanced, reasoned decisions to be most efficient.

This means you need to realise the harmony in all parts of your business. It's no good chasing new business if you ignore the clients you already have. There's no point in striving for financial success at the cost of your health, friends and fun.

Balanced thinking also means the ability to put things in perspective. Small problems affect us all. It's when we see these small things as big that we get carried away and can over-react.

Key #2 - Momentum I talk a lot about using pain and gain as a motivator. This is essentially a tool for creating momentum. But momentum without a direction is waste.

Make sure you have vivid, powerful goals. Keep your end in mind and be willing to go with the flow and will of others where necessary so that your outcome can still be realised.

Don't tackle problems head on but guide people in a direction that is mutually beneficial. Argument and conflict is wasteful and should be avoided where possible.

Pace people. Show them you understand them. Then guide them and allow their own momentum to do the rest.

Don't get carried away pursuing things that do not lead to your desired outcome - otherwise your momentum may be the very thing that trips you up.

Key #3 Leverage By recognising levers you'll be able to harness the power of momentum and make it your own. Effectively harnessing energy in the same way that a sail on a boat uses the wind to make it move.

Knowing where and when to take action and understanding that the little adjustments and small things can make the big difference will give you unlimited power.

Gain support. Ask for favours. Use your network. Make other people's time and money work for you and them simultaneously and you'll achieve a lot more a lot sooner and with a lot less effort.

As the saying goes: "If you give enough people what they want - they'll help you to get what you want too.

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