Recording: Strategies to overcome adversity

Ever wonder what causes certain people to thrive and survive while others are getting crushed by difficult circumstances? Intelligence? Persistence? Creativity? There seems to be one central attribute that sets survivors apart from others; it’s their ability to see the world “as it really is,” rather than how others “think it ought to be.” It’s one quality that people who are successful in business as well as their professional and personal lives share.

Join Michael F. Schein (founder and president of MicroFame Media) for insights on how to be a master persuader, turn weaknesses into strengths, and get what you want when faced with the widest variety of adversities and circumstances. He’ll share techniques to gain an edge over your competition, strategies from the world’s greatest persuaders & how to apply them, and most importantly how to thrive during challenging times.

Main Takeaways:

Michael shared three of his tips (from the 12 in his book) that you can implement to take control of your career:

1. Make war not love – Identify a point of view that’s out there that you hate and define yourself against it. If you want to take it up a notch and have some courage, call out a guru or thought leader and pick a good-natured fight. But don’t be a troll.
2. Create a secret society – You really want to have a group of people who can help you through thick and thin. Monitor your favorite social media platform for prominent figures to find common interests and connect around that. Create a form of digital media (for example, a podcast) and use that as traction to get people to have conversations with you.
3. Fetishize work – Instead of trading your time for money, create a structured process, something that people can use to do the work on their own, and pay you for the value you provide by doing that.

Top Q&A Questions / Additional Resources:

• My group has low attendance, what strategy would you recommend that I start with?
  • Think creatively about how you might replace or supplement a meeting in person.
    If you’re struggling with the digital piece, I would say that creating a secret society is everything. I see this: people promoting their event person by person. What’s more useful is finding a few key people in your space who have big followings that are similar to yours, especially if your event kind of fills a need that theirs does not. 
• Do you get a lot of pushback on the ideas?
  • I get a ton of pushback. The stuff that’s middle-of-the-road doesn’t get much attention. But it takes some courage. 
• How do you take negative feedback:
  • I reframe it in my mind.  I’m a bit of a troublemaker and I’m pretty overt. But you don’t have to be. Ideas can be contrarian but not controversial. Just take a strong point of view.
• How can we apply these strategies to life (outside of business)?
  • The examples are countless. I used a lot of stories from the business world, because I’ve written a business book and run a marketing agency. However, at its core, business is just people making things happen with other people. Any of these strategies can work in any scenario where you need to enlist other people to get what you want out of life.
    For example, if you take a date to an amusement park, you’re not doing that because you think he or she loves roller coasters. You’re doing it to create a sense of theater–creating an atmosphere that they might have seen in a movie (theatricality is one of the 12 hype strategies). Or if your kid is struggling in school, and the tutor you want is backed up for months, you can call on the “secret society” to make it happen for you.

• Additional Resources:
  • Michael’s book: The Hype Handbook: 12 Indispensable Success Secrets From the World’s Greatest Propagandists, Self-Promoters, Cult Leaders, Mischief Makers, and Boundary Breakers
  • If you’re interested in book recommendations from Michael and joining his book club sign up here

Last modified on June 23, 2021