5-Reps: A different planet, Career capital, and a story about a locksmith

Here’s what’s new this week.

Obvious Choice Podcast Episodes:

*If you only listen to one, make it this one.

2 Fitness Tips

1.

My wife Alison and I went to a John Butler Trio concert. His rendition of Ocean damn near took us to a different planet. After it was done, I looked at her and said, “let’s go home.”

We were all in and then we weren’t. So, we left and were in bed by 10:30pm making sure we had a good night sleep to be fresh for our kids the next morning.

You show up, or you don’t show up.

You say yes, or you say no.

Life is about tradeoffs.

2.

There’s a parable about a master locksmith.

He’d go to a house with a jammed lock and in about 30 seconds he’d pop it off and install a new one in a minute or two. His customers were happy until they saw the bill.

“$250? For what? It only took you a few minutes. How do I know the new one is secure?” They’d say.

On one hand the customer is right. It was done quickly.

On the other hand, the locksmith trained for decades to master their craft. You’re not paying them for their time, you’re paying them for their years of experience and expertise.

As the story goes, this locksmith now pretends to struggle with the lock for 29 minutes and 30s before popping it off. He’s found it’s easier to charge what he’s worth this way.

2 Business Nuggets

1.

In 2016, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) fined Reckitt Benckiser $6 million for misleading claims about its Nurofen pain products.

Nurofen sold multiple pills tailored to different types of pain––back pain, period pain, migraine pain. The prosecution’s argument was that the active ingredient, 342mg of ibuprofen, was identical.

“While I’m sure the ACCC’s chemical facts were accurate, their psychology seems to be wrong.” Wrote Rory Sutherland. “Promoting a drug as a cure for a narrowly defined condition, as Nurofen did, also increases placebo power everything the company was doing added to the efficacy of the product.”

Call it what you want––deceit, salesmanship, placebo–-but sometimes a little benign bullshit is good for everybody.

2.

Passive income, the way it’s promoted most often online, is a fallacy.

Highly profitable cash flowing businesses are frowned upon. The moment somebody succeeds in one, they often switch to a riskier model where they’re forced to work more hours for less money.

Coaching’s a prime example of a business that kicks off a lot of cash. When done right, margins are high and expenses low.

Too often, successful coaches get tempted by opportunities promising additional revenue streams like low-cost membership platforms, Ebooks, or apps.

The thought process is that cash flowing businesses won’t ever make you rich. That’s not true.

In many cases, yes, we should trade our time for money. But our time should cost a lot. If we’ve found work that is meaningful and fulfilling to us, we should do that work.

Scale your coaching business here

1 Quote to Consider

“The more I’ve learned, the more I’ve come to understand that we’re all just making it up as we go.”

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www.theptdc.com/articles/5-reps-Jan-26-2024

8:24pm. Thursday night. Latest I’ve ever written one of these. Just got back from a family adventure on the island of Ometepe in Nicaragua. ATV’d, kayaked, and hiked. Wind picked up. Ferries couldn’t leave. We got stranded there an extra day. So, I’m late writing this to you. Hope there’s no typoes.

-Jon

P.S. *You’re