I’m not going to take credit for this analogy but I had to share it with you because it’s so powerful.
I was looking through some notes I took while on a coaching call with Brendon Burchard (yes, I STILL have my own coaches) and I wrote down “stay for the third hour”.
That’s it. No other notes about it, just “stay for the third hour”.
Immediately, I knew what this was referring to and I know why there were zero other notes about it. I remember just stopping when he said it to reflect on how true it was about my own life.
Then I started analyzing all of the people I work with – and realized how I ALWAYS do my best to encourage them to ‘watch that third hour’.
Let me fill you in because you’re probably wondering what the heck I’m talking about.
When Brendon said it, he was referring to education videos; how in fact so many people buy programs, watch the first hour or so and then make a judgement call about the material.
“I’ve heard it before”, “It’s OK, but not great” and so on.
A LOT of people drop out – they return the product – they give up on the reason they bought in the first place because the first hour or two is ‘basic’ stuff. It’s stuff they ‘already’ know.
Here’s the funny part.
Even though we KNOW what to do, or KNOW the strategy…WE STILL DON’T DO IT.
I know I”m guilty of it. And it’s what made me stop dead when he said it.
How many times have YOU said “I don’t have time to go through all of this…”
If you say you’ve never said that you’re either lying or you’ve never taken a chance to move out of your comfort zone.
But it’s cool – we ALL do it. We ALL want the fastest path to success. We’re only willing to ‘invest in two hours’.
Today I hope to change your mindset.
Why The 3rd Hour Is Important To You.
I believe the 3rd hour is an important concept for you to understand.
Let me explain it with this graph:
This graph is the one I show coaching clients when they start working with me because I want them to understand what’s about to happen. Usually, I’m 98% accurate.
There are 3 critical points of reference. For this particular post, those point are ‘hours’.
The ‘hours’ can relate to anything. It could be actual hours, days months or sometimes years; but the end result is the same.
Just before the third hour, most people let go. They shut off the video, they stop the program, they quit the training & they step off the path.
If you recognize the ‘ sigmoid curve’ it’s because it’s been around for decades and we ALL go through this cycle.
We go through this cycle in every aspect of our lives – not just growing a business.
However, It’s REALLY IMPORTANT for you to realize how the graph applies to you and your business.
The THIRD hour is important because that’s when you will learn something new that makes the last two hours important. ( obviously I’m being general here – I can just see the emails now “hey Joe, I watched 3 hours of this program and learned nothing” )
In Brendon’s case, it WAS that third hour of video that gave him an important message & idea to follow.
It will be the same for us; in whatever we are doing, & learning.
From my coaching experience, I want to cry when people ‘shut off’ before “watching” the ‘third’ hour.
My advice is to WATCH/read/go through the entire program – book – seminar (read: commit).
The ‘3rd’ hour is when your coach says something that wakes up your passion and drive again after you’ve lost some of it & you’re in a slump wondering when it’s going to be coming together.
The ‘third hour’ is the most important hour! Make a point of sticking through “what you already know” to get to what you don’t know. Isn’t that why you started in the first place?
I hope this serves you to make your business better so you have a better life.
You should join my direct Monday morning “Build Me Up” emails if you’re interested in getting more of what I learn from my coaches.
Do me a solid and jot your thoughts below about what we’ve talked about here!
See ya soon!
– Joey