Doug Wagner, Author at Sunwapta Solutions

28 Oct 2013

Definiteness of Purpose: Key to Personal Success

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-04T15:59:09-06:00October 28th, 2013|Categories: Books and Courses, Doug's Blog, Manifast, Mindset and Motivation|

Many people I talk to inside and outside of business are looking for that elusive thing called success. Success is not defined solely by how much money you make. It is usually related to the pursuit of personal happiness, fulfillment and security.

Even people who appear to be focused on money usually have an underlying motive for something beyond the money. They might not know what it is, but it is almost always there.

In “The Go-Giver“, Bob Burg and John David Mann show us The Five Laws of Stratospheric Success. It is an excellent framework for achieving success and […]

17 Oct 2013

In The Game of Business, You Profit or You Die

By Doug Wagner|2020-09-16T22:46:45-06:00October 17th, 2013|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Leadership|

“When you play the game of thrones you win or you die. There
is no middle ground.”

Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones

Castle Game of Business and Profit Something similar is true in business, you either earn a
profit or your business will eventually die. There is no middle ground.

The difference is that there can be multiple profitable businesses
in the same market.

And if your business dies, you don’t need to perish with it. In fact, you can try again.

Any business that becomes sustainably profitable generates
happy owners […]

1 Oct 2013

Raising the Bar: Average and Meaner Performance

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-12T13:02:43-06:00October 1st, 2013|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Dream Teams, Leadership|

Raising the bar to performance business success Did you know that something like 90% of drivers think they are above average drivers? Almost half of them are wrong.

50% of doctors graduated in the bottom half of their class? Does that scare you?

Many, maybe even most, business owners think they have above average employees… that their employees are their competitive advantage.

The Average Versus The Mean

Average: Add up the individual measures of each sample and divide by the total sample size.

Mean: The value for which half the sample is […]

27 Sep 2013

Learn, Teach and Preach

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:25:47-06:00September 27th, 2013|Categories: Doug's Blog, Go-Giver Coach, Leadership, Manifast|

There is a distinct difference between these three ways of imparting knowledge and inspiring people to take action both inside and out of your business. Yet, they are frequently misused.

Learn teach preach

Learn: You provide the information and situation to allow the person to draw their own conclusions.
Teach: You guide someone through the logic of the information to the conclusion you want to impart.
Preach (or Dictate): You tell someone the answer and use fear or appeal to faith (in you or something bigger).

In reality, preaching is […]

17 Sep 2013

3 Reasons to Try: The Secret of Business Success

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-17T14:01:08-06:00September 17th, 2013|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Mindset and Motivation|

3 Reasons to Try - The Secret of Business Success - Yoda Try One of my favourite quotes is from a well-known fictional movie character:

“Do or do not, there is no try.” ~ Yoda

This seems to imply that merely trying things will not be successful. There are certainly a lot of success gurus out there that tell you to avoid “trying” and just “do it”.

In reality there are many shades of try (is it 50?) and […]

9 Sep 2013

My Goal is to Have A Goal Some Day (Really!)

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:26:09-06:00September 9th, 2013|Categories: Doug's Blog, Mindset and Motivation|

Clouds big dreams goals
I just came across a Tweet in my stream that went something like:

"My goal is to become an aspiring writer."

An aspiring writer is someone who hopes to be a writer one day. So the goal is to become someone who hopes to be a writer.

I am all for trying new things out to see what I like to do.

I would suggest though, that if your goal is to try to try… you probably won't.

"My goal is to become a […]

4 Sep 2013

Turn Business Mistakes into Business Lessons

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:26:22-06:00September 4th, 2013|Categories: Doug's Blog, Dream Teams, Leadership, Mindset and Motivation|

In business and in life you have a choice in how you frame failure.

"How much did that mistake cost you?" or "How much did that lesson cost you?"

The $100,000 Explosion

Transformer-business-learning-success Back in university one of our electrical engineering professors told us a story about a mistake when he was a young engineer working for a big company that built transformers.

The professor and another young engineer were tasked with stress testing one of those really big transformers.

Apparently, one of the calculations they performed was a wee bit off […]

30 Aug 2013

Thorns and Your Ideal Customer

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-10T17:35:40-06:00August 30th, 2013|Categories: Doug's Blog, Leadership, Marketing, Sales|

Thorns and Ideal Customers Sea Buckthorn Bush I stopped by one of our Sea Buckthorn bushes the other night for a snack. The berries are small and a little tart but packed with nutrition.

The bush is characterized by big sharp spikes, generally 1-2 inches long (2-5 cm). They make it difficult to get the fruit but you can as long as you are patient and careful.

It occurred to me.

I am not the bush’s ideal client!

The ideal client are the little birds that clean off the bush in […]

22 Aug 2013

Chasing the Moon or Catching Customers

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-11T13:07:16-06:00August 22nd, 2013|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Marketing, Sales|

Business man chasing catching moon success goals The shortest path to achieving your business goals may not be to aim directly at the destination.

“Always aim for the Moon, even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”

― W. Clement Stone

The meaning of this is that if you aim big, even if you miss you will still achieve great things.

But what if you actually want to hit the moon?

Chasing the Moon

Aiming your spaceship at the moon is not the shortest and fastest way to get to the moon. […]

7 Aug 2013

Illusions at Work and Business

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:26:43-06:00August 7th, 2013|Categories: Books and Courses, Doug's Blog, Leadership, Marketing, Mindset and Motivation, Sales|

What you see as reality is not what I see. It is not just me or you.

It is everyone.

Everything you see, touch, smell, feel, hear or otherwise interact with is a construct and interpretation by your brain including the filters of your beliefs and world views.

The illusion of reality.

Illusions at Work and Business

Once you understand this and that everyone sees and interprets the world differently it becomes a lot easier to get along with others, sell your products and services, and create […]

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About Doug Wagner

The Average Versus The Mean

The $100,000 Explosion

Chasing the Moon