Some of the participants were given pretzels and others were given a mix of tree nuts (almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamias, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, and walnuts). At the end of the study period, the researchers analyzed fecal and blood plasma samples to better understand the effects of the different snacks.
Crunchy, salty pickles are an incredible addition to so many meals. The acidity helps cut fattiness, and even a small amount adds so much flavor. Adding fresh dill and briny pickles to chicken salad takes it from ordinary to addictive. There’s just the right amount of crunch from extra veggies (carrots, celery, and the pickles) and a tangy bite from the mustard. I prefer to serve it as an open-face sandwich since you get two sandwiches for the price of one— meaning more delicious bites and more variety.
My guest today is Ron Shaich, founder of Panera and chairman of CAVA. At 71, he tracks his glucose continuously and works out every morning at 8am. He runs quarterly reviews on his life with the same discipline he brought to building companies.
The headlines will tell you that Ron built Panera into a $7.8 billion company, but the real story is far more interesting.
He went all in on Panera. He sold off every other concept they owned, like Au Bon Pain, to focus on Panera.
Coming Soon: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Transcript
His philosophy is simple: Be long-term greedy, not short-term stupid.
We discuss why profit is always a byproduct (focus on it and you’ll lose everything), how to understand the customer, and the real costs of building something great. Today he’s repeating the same playbook he used at Panera with CAVA.
This isn’t about restaurants. It’s about making painful bets when everyone else is optimizing for next quarter, and understanding that real commitment owns you—you never own it.
Are you ready to grow in your professional journey?
Whether you’re already leading a team or hoping to step into a leadership role, understanding key leadership skills can help you move forward. These skills can make the difference between feeling stuck in your job and reaching new levels of success.
Good leaders not only guide others but also bring out the best in their teams. Read further to uncover helpful tips below.
What Are Leadership Skills?
Leadership skills are the abilities that help someone guide and support a group toward a common goal. These skills help leaders make smart choices, build strong teams, and create a positive work environment. Leadership includes both hard skills and soft skills.
Hard skills, like project planning and task management, involve doing specific jobs. Soft skills, like listening, understanding others, and communicating clearly, are just as important. Strong leaders combine these skills to help their teams stay focused, motivated, and successful.
When you develop leadership skills, you also help others grow, making your team more effective and confident.
Key Skills Every Leader Should Have
One of the most important leadership skills is communication. A leader must be able to explain ideas clearly and listen to team members. Good communication helps avoid confusion and builds trust.
Another vital skill is decision-making. Leaders often face hard choices, and making the right call can affect everyone. Being able to think carefully and choose wisely is a sign of a strong leader.
Emotional intelligence is also key. This means understanding your own feelings and the emotions of others. Leaders with high emotional intelligence are better at building strong relationships and handling stress calmly.
Delegation is another important skill. A leader should know how to share tasks with others and trust the team to do their jobs. This gives the leader time to focus on bigger goals while allowing others to grow.
Finally, great leaders know how to set a clear vision. A strong vision gives the team a sense of direction. It shows everyone what they are working toward and helps them stay motivated during challenges.
Why Leadership Skills Are Important
Good leadership can change the way a team works. Leaders who use their skills well help their teams feel more connected and encouraged. When people feel supported, they work better and stay more focused.
A good leader can turn a group of individuals into a strong, united team, especially when they take time to learn about coaching for individual team members to help each person grow and succeed.
Leadership also helps teams face change. In today’s fast-moving world, leaders must be ready to handle new problems and find smart solutions. With strong leadership skills, you can guide your team through difficult times while keeping them on track.
Grow Into the Leader You Want to Be
Leadership is not something that happens overnight. It is a journey that involves learning, reflecting, and taking action. Every experience, good or bad, gives you a chance to improve.
When you invest in yourself, you also invest in your team and your future. The effort you put into building your leadership skills will not only help your career but will also create a positive impact on others. Take that first step today. The power to lead is already inside you.
Explore more! Our blog has everything you need to know!
Shuttle Denver to Vail: Mountains, Myths, and the Magic of the First Snow
Colorado has its own seasonal rhythm. Therefore, the appearance of the first snowflakes here is more than just another winter sign. It’s a signal for locals to start waxing skis, and for cafés to swap cold brew for hot cocoa. This winter mode makes Denver a perfect starting point for your ski vacation. Yet, if you are still seeking a perfect holiday destination, think about Vail. This resort is only two hours away from DEN if you travel by car or book a private shuttle.
Vail: The Resort That Wasn’t Supposed to Exist
Here’s a fun fact: Vail wasn’t built by big investors. It was founded in the 1960s by two ski-obsessed friends – Pete Seibert and Earl Eaton. In fact, they discovered the mountain accidentally, thinking it would be a perfect place for practicing skiing. Indeed, years after Vail has stayed one of the best ski resorts in the world.
More Than Slopes: What to Do in Vail When You’re Not Skiing
Undoubtedly, Vail is a legendary place for skiers. Yet, coming here, you don’t have to ski all day long, especially if you feel tired after a long transfer.
Try a snowshoe hike
Exploring White River National Forest, watching snow-covered trees and small valleys, you feel like a part of a fantasy world.
Visit the Colorado Snowsports Museum
Whether you are a dedicated skier or a history buff, this place has something to catch your eye.
Explore Vail Village
The village is a pure charm with cobblestone streets, adorably-designed buildings, and chocolate shops.
Travel Tip: If you happen to be in Vail in December, don’t miss the Vail Snow Days Festival.
Hidden Corners Locals Love
The Little Diner
Here you can find the biggest breakfast burritos that you’ve ever seen. Indeed, they may be bigger than your helmet.
Minturn Salon
Seeking something really special? Minturn Salon in nearby Minturn is one of the oldest taverns in Colorado. When booking a private airport transfer, you can ask your driver to make a quick stop there before taking you to your hotel.
Vail’s Nordic Center
That’s where you can actually rent snow bikes for a moderate price. And, yes, it’s great fun even for first-timers.
How to Reach Vail: The Road Is Part of the Story
In fact, the drive from Denver or Denver International Airport to Vail is pure poetry in motion. The I-70 highway winds through frozen waterfalls, ice-covered tunnels, and valleys wrapped in pines. Yet, winter driving here isn’t pure fun. Slippery roads, sharp turns, spotty GPS, and even accidental rockfalls – there are a lot of challenges for drivers.
Therefore, more and more travelers prefer to sit back and let a professional handle it. Indeed, when you opt for a shuttle Denver to Vail, it means you ride without stress and extra worries. So, the road turns into a useful time that allows you to rest and soak in the mountain beauty before the arrival.
Moreover, with a private car service, you can plan your comfortable return trip or ask for a detour to visit mountain villages on the way.
Opening Day: When Vail Wakes Up
This year, November 14 is going to be a fascinating day for Vail. Loud live concerts and open-air performances, free drinks and crazy parties, special guests and surprises – all that about Vail’s Opening Day.
Undoubtedly, planning your Vail visit for November 14 can become your best decision this year. The moment when you glide off the first chairlift and see sunlight pour over the peaks, that’s when winter officially begins in Colorado.
Why Vail Still Feels Like Magic
Indeed, there’s something special about Vail. Maybe it’s the way snow falls there – heavy, soft, and endless. Maybe it’s how the mountains hum quietly even when the town sleeps. In fact, coming here, you’ll name your own reason for calling Vail special. Whatever it is, Vail keeps its spell alive!
Many young men today quietly battle depression, loneliness, and a sense of confusion about who they’re meant to be.
Some blame the lack of deep friendships or romantic relationships. Others feel lost in a digital world that often labels traditional masculinity as “toxic.”
Success doesn’t arrive by accident or luck. It’s built on discipline, sacrifice, and consistency.
Here are 9 harsh truths every young man should know if he wants to thrive, not just survive, in the digital age.
1. Never Use Your Illness as an Excuse
As Dr. Jordan B. Peterson often says, successful people don’t complain; they act.
Your illness, hardship, or struggle shouldn’t define your limits; it should define your motivation. Rest when you must, but always get back up and keep building your dreams. Motivation doesn’t appear magically. It comes after you take action.
Here are five key lessons I’ve learned from Dr. Peterson:
Learn to write clearly; clarity of thought makes you dangerous.
Read quality literature in your free time.
Nurture a strong relationship with your family.
Share your ideas publicly; your voice matters.
Become a “monster”, powerful, but disciplined enough to control it.
The best leaders and thinkers are grounded. They welcome criticism, adapt quickly, and keep moving forward no matter what.
2. You Can’t Please Everyone And That’s Okay
You don’t need a crowd of people to feel fulfilled. You need a few friends who genuinely accept you for who you are.
If your circle doesn’t bring out your best, it’s okay to walk away. Solitude can be a powerful teacher. It gives you space to understand what you truly want from life. Remember, successful men aren’t people-pleasers; they’re purpose-driven.
3. You Can Control the Process, Not the Outcome
Especially in creative work, writing, business, or content creation, you control effort, not results.
You might publish two articles a day, but you can’t dictate which one will go viral. Focus on mastery, not metrics. Many great writers toiled for years in obscurity before anyone noticed them. Rejection, criticism, and indifference are all part of the path.
The best creators focus on storytelling, not applause.
4. Rejection Is Never Personal
Rejection doesn’t mean you’re unworthy. It simply means your offer, idea, or timing didn’t align.
Every successful person has faced rejection repeatedly. What separates them is persistence and perspective. They see rejection as feedback, not failure. The faster you learn that truth, the faster you’ll grow.
5. Women Value Comfort and Security
Understanding women requires maturity and empathy.
Through books, lectures, and personal growth, I’ve learned that most women desire a man who is grounded, intelligent, confident, emotionally stable, and consistent. Some want humor, others intellect, but nearly all want to feel safe and supported.
Instead of chasing attention, work on self-improvement. Build competence and confidence, and the rest will follow naturally.
6. There’s No Such Thing as Failure, Only Lessons
A powerful lesson from Neuro-Linguistic Programming: failure only exists when you stop trying.
Every mistake brings data. Every setback builds wisdom. The most successful men aren’t fearless. They’ve simply learned to act despite fear.
Be proud of your scars. They’re proof you were brave enough to try.
7. Public Speaking Is an Art Form
Public speaking is one of the most valuable and underrated skills a man can master.
It’s not about perfection; it’s about connection. The best speakers tell stories, inspire confidence, and make people feel seen. They research deeply, speak honestly, and practice relentlessly.
If you can speak well, you can lead, sell, teach, and inspire. Start small, practice at work, in class, or even in front of a mirror, and watch your confidence skyrocket.
8. Teaching Is Leadership in Disguise
Great teachers are not just knowledgeable. They’re brave, compassionate, and disciplined.
Teaching forces you to articulate what you know, and in doing so, you master it at a deeper level. Whether you’re mentoring a peer, leading a team, or sharing insights online, teaching refines your purpose.
Lifelong learners become lifelong leaders.
9. Study Human Nature to Achieve Your Dreams
One of the toughest lessons to accept: most people are self-interested.
That’s not cynicism, it’s human nature. Understanding this helps you navigate relationships, business, and communication more effectively.
Everyone has a darker side, but successful people learn to channel theirs productively into discipline, creativity, and drive.
Psychology isn’t just theory; it’s a toolkit. Learn how people think, act, and decide, and you’ll know how to lead them, influence them, and even understand yourself better.
Final Thoughts
The digital age offers endless opportunities, but only to those who are willing to take responsibility, confront discomfort, and keep improving.
Becoming a man today means embracing the hard truths most avoid.
Because at the end of the day, success isn’t about luck. It’s about who you become when life tests you the most.
“Words are events, they do things, change things. They transform both speaker and hearer… feed understanding or emotion back and forth and amplify it,” Ursula K. Le Guin wrote. Words are the invisible hands with which we touch each other, feel the shape of the world, hold our own experience. We live in language — it is our interior narrative that stitches the events of our lives into a story of self. We love in language — it is the lever for every deep and valuable relationship, which Adrienne Rich knew to be “a process, delicate, violent, often terrifying to both persons involved, a process of refining the truths they can tell each other.” When two people meet in a third language, parts of each always remain unmet by the other. When two people meet in the same language, they must learn to mean the same things by the same words in order to meet in truth. And so we must love language in order to love each other well, in order to love our own lives.
I know of no greater love letter to language, to its simple pleasures and its infinite complexities, than the one Pablo Neruda (July 12, 1904–September 23, 1973) tucks into his posthumously published Memoirs (public library) under the heading “Words” — a stream-of-consciousness prose poem nested between chapters about his changing life in Chile and his eventual choice to leave Santiago, “a captive city between walls of snow,” half a lifetime before he was awarded the Nobel Prize for “a poetry that with the action of an elemental force brings alive a continent’s destiny and dreams.”
… You can say anything you want, yessir, but it’s the words that sing, they soar and descend … I bow to them … I love them, I cling to them, I run them down, I bite into them, I melt them down … I love words so much … The unexpected ones … The ones I wait for greedily or stalk until, suddenly, they drop … Vowels I love … They glitter like colored stones, they leap like silver fish, they are foam, thread, metal, dew … I run after certain words … They are so beautiful that I want to fit them all into my poem … I catch them in mid-flight, as they buzz past, I trap them, clean them, peel them, I set myself in front of the dish, they have a crystalline texture to me, vibrant, ivory, vegetable, oily, like fruit, like algae, like agates, like olives … And then I stir them, I shake them, I drink them, I gulp them down, I mash them, I garnish them, I let them go … I leave them in my poem like stalactites, like slivers of polished wood, like coals, pickings from a shipwreck, gifts from the waves … Everything exists in the word … An idea goes through a complete change because one word shifted its place, or because another settled down like a spoiled little thing inside a phrase that was not expecting her but obeys her … They have shadow, transparence, weight, feathers, hair, and everything they gathered from so much rolling down the river, from so much wandering from country to country, from being roots so long … They are very ancient and very new … They live in the bier, hidden away, and in the budding flower.
Nested into Neruda’s passionate ode to the brightness of language is also a reminder of the darknesses out of which its light arose:
What a great language I have, it’s a fine language we inherited from the fierce conquistadors … They strode over the giant cordilleras, over the rugged Americas, hunting for potatoes, sausages, beans, black tobacco, gold, corn, fried eggs, with a voracious appetite not found in the world since then … They swallowed up everything, religions, pyramids, tribes, idolatries just like the ones they brought along in their huge sacks … Wherever they went, they razed the land … But words fell like pebbles out of the boots of the barbarians, out of their beards, their helmets, their horseshoes, luminous words that were left glittering here … our language. We came up losers … We came up winners … They carried off the gold and left us the gold … They carried everything off and left us everything … They left us the words.
We forget this, but it is a truth both uncomfortable and liberating — that there is no wasted experience, that the heartbreaks, the disasters, the plunderings of trust and territory all leave the seeds of something new in their wake. Our very world was born by brutality, forged of the debris that first swarmed the Sun four and a half billion years ago before cohering into rocky bodies that went on to pulverize one another in a gauntlet of violent collisions that sculpted the Earth and the Moon. Words too can do that — universes of perspective colliding in order to shape a habitable truth, to shape the stories we tell ourselves in order to live, the stories we tell each other and call love.
Feeling overwhelmed? Discover how ‘reset days’ can transform your productivity. Learn Thanh’s practical strategies, including brain dumps for clarity, guided meditation for mental calm, and setting hard stops to prevent burnout. Reclaim control and get back on track with these actionable tips.
Try Gusto today at gusto.com/TPS, and get 3 months free when you run your first payroll.
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Of course, someone’s sign is never a guarantee they’ll be naive or gullible, let alone get catfished. But let’s be real—so many people are on dating apps, and some of those people are catfish. If we had to pick which signs are most likely to get fooled by one, Pisces, Cancer, and Aries might want to exercise extra caution.
The researchers believe this link comes down to vasopressin, a hormone that helps the body retain water when hydration levels drop. Vasopressin also interacts with the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, the same network that triggers cortisol release. When water intake is low, this pathway may stay more active, leading to an exaggerated stress response over time.
I never thought I will have the chance to write something like this again. If you read my blog for some time, you may remember my “7 things I learned from my daughter” series. But that happened almost 2 decades ago, Bianca is now in college.
And yet, here I am, a (happy) dad at 55, celebrating his third child – a smart, healthy and beautiful boy called Rovi – first birthday today.
Here are 7 things Rovi taught be in the last 365 days.
1. Falling Down Is Temporary, Getting Up Every Time Is What Matters
A couple of months ago he started to walk. Or, to be more precise, he started to fall down every time he tried to get up. But he never stopped trying to get up, again and again and again. It was like he knew falling down is part of the lesson. It’s the getting up that really counts.
2. If You Really Want Something, Don’t Stop Until You Get It
When he is hungry or he wants something, he doesn’t stop until he gets it. Like, literally. He will not stop until he gets what he wants. I hope that later in life, this instinctual attitude will ripple into a character trait that will make him persistent, disciplined and loyal. And I’m really happy about that.
3. Smiling Is Underrated
He smiles all the time, to anyone, anytime. That made me understand that sometimes the burden of life pushed me away, and I forgot how smiling can change my mood, and the mood of people around me, in a second. It doesn’t cost anything, either.
4. Sleeping Is A Superpower
Rovi can sleep anytime, anywhere. That’s a true superpower and I hope he will maintain this for all his life. I really wish I could have this. Especially now, when sleep has been scarce.
5. If You Don’t Like It, Just Ignore It
As a child, he gets a lot of attention, from all kind of people. Not all of them are nice, but Rovi has this way of just ignoring them. He simply cut them from his reality, he suddenly stops looking at them, it’s like they never existed. That’s another superpower I hope he will maintain for all his life.
6. Attachment Is Poison
He may cry now, but then in one second he can laugh again. He doesn’t get attached to his emotions, he just fully immerses himself in them, living in the moment. Too often I forget this, insisting on my grudges, because they give me a reason to complain, or clinging too much to my pleasures, hoping they’ll last longer. Nope. Not gonna happen. Attachment is poison. Everything that matters is right here, right now, in this very moment.
7. There’s Always A Way
As he is starting to explore his surroundings, he encounters every day new types of obstacles. Today is the couch, tomorrow it may be a chair, and the other day the bedroom door. He almost never gets it from the first time, but, in the end, he always gets it. He always finds a way to conquer that obstacle. It’s not about not giving up, it’s about knowing, deep down, that there is always a way to get something. You may not getting from the first try – and, honestly, he doesn’t even look like he expects this – but in the end, if you stay long enough with that problem, you will find a way to solve it.
Optimize your Google My Business profile to improve local search rankings.
Incorporate local keywords into your website content for better relevance.
Encourage customer reviews to build trust and credibility.
Develop locally-focused content to engage your community.
Build local backlinks to enhance your site’s authority.
Implementing effective local search engine optimization strategies is essential for businesses aiming to attract more local customers. With the right approach, you can boost your online visibility and ensure nearby prospects find your products or services first. Whether you’re a small business owner or managing the digital presence of a larger company, understanding how to optimize for local search can make all the difference. Begin by considering trusted local SEO services Philadelphia to accelerate your results and help establish a robust presence within your community.
Local SEO goes beyond traditional optimization; it requires a tailored plan focused on location-based intent, user experience, and community engagement. Small changes—like addressing your business details, gaining positive reviews, and being active locally—can deliver significant improvements. These efforts culminate in more clients at your door or more service calls in your coverage region.
When executed effectively, these strategies can transform your business’s digital profile—making you a prominent choice for locals and standing out in a competitive market. Following local SEO best practices boosts your recognition and builds lasting trust in your neighborhood.
Optimize Your Google My Business Profile
Start with a fully optimized Google My Business (GMB) profile. Ensure every field, from business name to operating hours, is consistent and accurate. This ensures your business appears in maps and local packs, a critical part of the search journey for most customers. Enhance your listing with recent photos, posts about promotions, and updates. GMB even allows you to add services, products, and attributes, providing richer detail for search algorithms and customers.
Incorporate Local Keywords into Your Website Content
Infusing your site with locally relevant keywords helps search engines associate your business with area-specific searches. Phrases like “best pizza in Seattle” or “Dallas family dentist” signal your service area and cater to qualified leads. Balance these keywords within web content, headings, titles, and meta descriptions to help users and search engines easily recognize your business’s location and relevance. Remember to keep the language natural and focus on conversational searches commonly used on mobile devices.
Encourage Customer Reviews
Online reviews are a cornerstone of effective local SEO. Actively request feedback from satisfied customers, directing them to Google, Yelp, or Facebook for reviews. High quantities of quality reviews don’t just aid in rankings—they also convince undecided shoppers to choose your business over competitors. Respond to all reviews professionally, addressing concerns and expressing gratitude for positive ones, thus showing your commitment to customer satisfaction.
Develop Locally-Focused Content
Producing content that ties your business to local events and issues strengthens your bond with the community while increasing organic reach. Blog about upcoming festivals, support local charities, or provide guides highlighting attractions and tips relevant to your city or neighborhood. This approach earns you loyal followers, creates shareable content, and builds authority in Google’s eyes.
Build Local Backlinks
Backlinks from local organizations, media outlets, and community partners affirm your business’s place within your area. Participate in community activities, sponsor local events, or seek collaborations to earn valuable citations for your business website. Local backlinks show search engines that you’re an active, trusted regional member, directly impacting your rankings for area-specific searches.
Leverage Social Media for Local Engagement
Engage your audience through social media by sharing stories, images, and offers catering to your region. Use popular location-based hashtags and tag your city or neighborhood when posting. Showcasing customer stories, sponsoring local events, and featuring behind-the-scenes content help humanize your brand and build a strong local following.
Monitor and Adapt Your Local SEO Strategies
Regular measurement and adaptation are crucial to long-term success. Track performance with Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and local-specific SEO platforms to understand where traffic comes from and which pages convert best. Analyze reviews for common feedback themes and use keyword ranking tools to spot emerging opportunities. Refine your strategy based on actual results, ensuring your business stays ahead in the evolving local search landscape.
Final Thoughts
Mastering local SEO is less about quick fixes and a thoughtful, consistent approach. By optimizing key profiles, weaving relevant local terms into your site, encouraging glowing reviews, crafting local-centric content, pursuing backlinks, engaging on social media, and tracking efforts, your business can capture the attention of locals and earn a lasting spot at the top of search results.
The statistics on small business failure are sobering. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, almost half of startups don’t make it past the five-year mark. The number one challenge is cash flow, which can stem from a lack of funding, poor budgeting, and inventory management issues, to name a few.
Learning this statistic can be scary when you’re trying to launch your own successful small venture. However, you may be in a good position to create a profitable business by taking note of these helpful tips:
Keep Your Costs Low
As tempting as it can be to sign an expensive lease agreement for a new building and hire multiple employees, such significant expenses can be challenging for a startup to manage. In fact, spending too much money in a business’s early days can often be what causes it to go out of business. Look after your bottom line by investing wisely.
For example, you might sign up with a virtual office provider like Davinci Virtual to create the illusion of a professional business location without the considerable expense. If you need help with daily operations early on, you can even explore virtual assistants to help with online tasks, rather than investing in a full-time employee. You should always be mindful of your spending in business, but even more so when you’re only just establishing a customer base.
Validate Your Business Idea
Thinking you have an excellent idea for a new business venture doesn’t mean you actually do. That’s why research is so important. Before spending all your savings on launching your startup, identify a pain point your product or service solves and test demand with pre-orders, landing pages, and surveys. You can also research competitors to find a gap or fill a niche.
Build a Strong Marketing System
It takes a while for customers to realize there’s a new business to buy goods and services from. This is especially true when that business doesn’t use any form of marketing to alert people. That’s why having a strong marketing system early on is crucial.
Utilize powerful platforms, such as social media and websites optimized with SEO, to identify and inform your target market. You can also use these same platforms to collect customer data, such as email addresses, and nurture those relationships with email marketing.
Prioritize Your Customers
When you think of profit and how to create it, you might think about setting high product and service prices and trying to spend as little as possible. However, prioritizing the customer experience is also a crucial component of turning a profit.
The more happy customers you have, the more repeat sales you often get, and the more you benefit from word of mouth marketing. Providing a great customer experience can be as easy as responding to feedback and messages quickly, and delivering ‘wow’ moments like discounts, loyalty perks, and even thank-you notes with orders.
Creating a profitable startup doesn’t happen overnight or by chance. It’s also not guaranteed! However, some of the tips above may be more helpful than you think in laying a strong foundation for business success.
Some boutique consulting firms are still doing marketing like it’s 2010:
They rely on their partners’ networks for new business.
They post some random content.
And they occasionally hire an agency to do mass outreach campaigns.
These tactics worked fine 15 years ago.
But the world has changed since then.
Going through a pandemic.
The AI wave.
Smartphone ownership levels and social media usage.
Everything is different.
And together with the world, how B2B buyers buy high-value services has also changed.
They have different preferences now.
So to do marketing effectively, consulting firms have to align with today’s buyer behavior.
How?
Here are 5 changes in buyer behavior with some interesting research and what it means for your firm:
1. Buyers want to get information themselves now
Sales used to be simple.
Buyers depended on salespeople to get information.
Salespeople had fancy pitches and decks.
All information gathering and sales happened in meetings.
Well, not anymore.
Buyers want to research on their own before talking to vendors today.
They consume an average of 11 pieces of content¹ (articles, webinars, case studies) before any meeting.
They go through their social media profiles and websites.
So they complete 83% of the decision process² before talking to vendors.
Sure, “sales” meetings still happen.
But buyers don’t use those meetings to get information or make a decision anymore.
They use them to validate what they’ve already researched.
So those meetings are becoming a formality.
What it means for your firm:
Marketing is taking over sales: Marketing isn’t just for awareness anymore. It’s also 80% of your sales process. Buyers decide if they should work with your firm through your website and content. See your website and content as your salespeople.
Help buyers through clarity: The problem you solve, who you serve it for, how you solve it differently… Make everything so clear that you almost repel your non-ideal prospects. That way, the right buyers can immediately say: “Yes, this is for us.”
Cater to their awareness levels: Most buyers are not ready to buy today. Some of them are not even aware of their problem. Give granular information in your content ecosystem to handle their objections over time. Make your firm the guide in their buying journey.
2. Buyers buy from experts who change their perspectives
Back in 2010, there was little content online.
Even content with basic ideas was sufficient to build visibility.
But today, things are different.
Buyers raised their bars.
They want to consume content before buying.
But they also demand differentiated content.
73% of decision-makers³ say that an organization’s thought leadership content is more trustworthy to assess its competency than its promotional materials.
86% of hidden decision-makers⁴ within organizations want fresh perspectives and ideas that challenge their assumptions from providers.
Produce differentiated content: Buyers don’t get fooled by average content anymore. They want content they can’t find anywhere else. And they make purchase decisions based on content quality. Produce content that’s worth your expertise. Because your content’s quality signals the quality of your work.
Change your buyers’ perspective: Buyers want to take sides today. They want to go against what everybody else is doing. So repeating what everybody else is saying is not enough. Offer original ideas. Take sides. Develop your brand ideology and infuse it into your marketing.
Stay top of mind: Buyers don’t say “we have to buy from this firm” after reading a single piece of content. It takes multiple pieces of opinionated content to change their perspective. Design your marketing to influence your prospects over time. Thought leadership is a marathon.
3. Buyers want to buy from specialists
Power resided in big, generalist firms back in 2010.
They had large armies and resources.
They were known.
So buyers bought from them.
But this is changing.
Today, buyers want to work with specialists.
They care less about how many employees a firm has or how well they are known.
They care if they are known for something.
Because they want highodds of success before any purchase.
And specialists offer the highest odds.
They understand the buyers’ industry and context.
That’s why boutique firms are rapidly increasing their market share⁵, while generalists are struggling.
That’s why buyers rank subject-matter expertise⁶ as the top criterion for their vendor selection.
Even above team quality, past experience, and price.
What it means for your firm:
Get narrow with your positioning:Buyers are starving for specialists. There has been no better time to tighten your ideal client profile and the services you provide for them. Your conversion and win rate will increase magically.
Chase depth over numbers: Buyers prefer detailed, niche insights over broad commentary to assess credibility. Give them what they want. Associate your firm with specific problems in a specific area. Show the depth of your expertise with the depth of your ideas.
Convey your specialization clearly: Being specialized is one thing. Communicating it is another. Call out your tight ideal client profile and the problems you solve at every opportunity in your marketing channels. Drop generic definitions like “tech companies” or “leaders” from your firm’s messaging. Never let your buyers think: “Is this firm really for us?”
4. Buyers ignore interruptions
Interruption is everywhere in today’s world.
Endless robocalls.
Annoying emails and DMs from companies you’ve never heard of.
So buyers have become resistant.
But what’s interesting is that they don’t only ignore those interruptions.
73% of buyers actively avoid suppliers who send irrelevant outreach⁷.
It erodes those firms’ reputation in their eyes.
Buyers want to have full control over the buying process.
They want to discover niche thought leaders they can learn from, follow their ideas, and buy when they are ready.
What it means for your firm:
Earn buyers’ attention: There is no easy way to earn buyers’ trust today. Earn their attention through your specialization and thought leadership over time. The long way is the shortcut.
Avoid tactics that irritate buyers:Negative associations push away buyers. Don’t make your firm associated with annoying outreach tactics. 5 calls you book with random prospects don’t justify 9,995 real buyers you irritate forever.
‘Push’ with value: There are two ways to make “interruption” marketing work today: Extreme personalization or ‘pushing’ with value. We’ve talked about examples here. If you are going to interrupt, do it the right way.
5. Buyers still value referrals, but in a different way
A reference from a trusted person was enough for buyers to take a sales meeting before.
And referrals still work today.
But in a different way.
Buyers don’t blindly jump into sales meetings anymore.
Referrals initiate the discovery.
Following the reference, buyers go and review that firm’s website, articles, and social media.
They rely on their own research process, as discussed above.
So references still open doors.
But what you tell on your marketing channels closes the deal.
Plus, there are more and more indirect referrals.
It doesn’t come from clients.
It comes from the audience who follows your ideas.
They share what they find useful with relevant people they know.
And those people eventually become buyers.
84% of B2B decision makers begin their buying process with a referral⁸ today.
What it means for your firm:
Make sales calls a formality: Everything we talked about in the first point applies here. Even referrals validate if you are the right fit through your messaging. Have a clear, consistent messaging strategy and put your marketing channels to work. Make sales calls a formality for referrals.
Ignite referrals through content: Besides your client work, your through leadership is also a referral engine now. Give enough importance to your content. Make it specific to get relevant fame. So your ideas can get shared in small, but highly connected circles. And you can get more organic referrals.
Repeat intentional “keywords”: Referrers should be able to describe your firm easily to others. Choose keywords that make your positioning clear immediately (e.g.,messaging for consulting firms, pricing strategy for B2B SaaS). Repeat them again and again throughout your marketing to build associations. Make it easy for referrers to refer you.
The moral of the story?
Buyer behavior has changed a lot in the last 15 years.
The patterns are obvious.
Buyers want to be in control of the buying process.
They want clarity.
They want niche expertise.
And they want original ideas.
So no need to insist on outdated tactics that don’t work anymore.
There are a few people you meet in life who change your trajectory forever.
For me, one of those people was Bob Proctor.
If you’ve ever listened to The Secret or stumbled upon an old YouTube video of a white-haired gentleman talking about “paradigms” and the power of the subconscious mind, that’s Bob.
He was one of the world’s most beloved teachers on prosperity consciousness.
He spent over 60 years helping millions of people reprogram their thinking to unlock abundance, confidence, and self-worth.
But for me, Bob wasn’t just a teacher. He was my first mentor.
The day Bob Proctor threw me to the wolves
Back in 2005, Bob came to Malaysia to give a seminar. I was just a young entrepreneur—no fame, no followers, no stage experience.
Right before his talk, he turned to me and said,
“Vishen, I want you to introduce me.”
I froze. I’d never spoken to an audience before.
But Bob just smiled that mischievous smile of his—the kind that said, “You’ll thank me later.”
So I walked on stage, palms sweating, voice shaking, heart trying to escape my chest… And I absolutely butchered that introduction.
But that’s how Bob operated. He had this uncanny way of pushing you into discomfort—not to watch you squirm, but because he knew that’s where your next level lived.
And I often wonder…
Where would I be today if Bob hadn’t given me that first uncomfortable push?
The day Bob walked into the Mindvalley office
Fast forward to 2014. Bob visited the Mindvalley office in Kuala Lumpur. He gave an unforgettable talk, filled with that trademark blend of wisdom and fire.
And then, just before he left, he said something I’ll never forget:
“I’d like to record a meditation for you.”
So we found the quietest corner we could—a simple desk, my old iPhone 5—and hit record. That’s how The Abundance Meditation was born.
The audio wasn’t perfect (thank you, 2014 microphone quality).
But what poured through Bob’s voice was pure magic.
We uploaded it to YouTube and later added it to the Mindvalley app.
Over the years, 4.2 million people listened to it.
It became one of the most loved meditations in our library.
So, what is abundance meditation about?
Let’s unpack the Abundance Meditation and how it will help you.
It’s not just about attracting a bigger bank balance. It’s about rewiring your mind to recognize the abundance that’s already here. Think of it as turning up the volume on the good stuff.
Bob Proctor’s work is all about mindset, and this meditation is a concentrated dose of that.
It’s designed to help you:
Smash limiting beliefs: Those sneaky thoughts that tell you “not enough” or “not possible”? This meditation helps dismantle them.
Visualize abundance: You’ll be guided to create a vivid picture of your abundant life. This isn’t just daydreaming; it’s programming your subconscious.
Feel the feeling: The key isn’t just seeing it, but feeling the gratitude and joy of already having it. That’s what magnetizes it to you.
This meditation isn’t a magic wand, but it’s a powerful tool for shifting your perspective and opening yourself up to receive.
Just like you’re expanding your consciousness and building that solid foundation to manifest your intentions into reality.
Recently, our team decided to clean up the recording. We used AI to remove the background fuzz and smooth the sound.
We thought we were doing a good thing. But something surprising happened.
Our inbox filled up with messages from the community:
“Please bring back the original version.” “We love hearing Bob’s real voice.”
And that’s when I realized something profound. Perfection doesn’t always make things better.
Sometimes, it’s the imperfections that carry the soul.
A story that proves the power of practice
One of my favorite stories came from DJ Bliss, one of the Middle East’s top musicians.
During an interview, he told me he listened to Bob’s Abundance Meditation100 days in a row.
What happened next was wild — His career exploded. He landed a spot on the world’s #1 reality show, Dubai Bling. And he said, “That meditation changed my life.”
That’s the kind of magic Bob left behind.
A gift for you
I know Bob is smiling somewhere right now—seeing all of us still learning, growing, expanding.
So today, in his honor, I want to gift you Bob Proctor’s original Abundance Meditation.
If you’re a Mindvalley Member, you can find it in the Mindvalley App under “Abundance Meditation by Bob Proctor.“ You can also go to “Eve AI” inside the Mindvalley App to direct you to meditation. Once you’ve found the meditation and tried it, we recommend you save it to your favorites and do it for over a week to see if it rewires your mind towards abundance.
Now, if you’re not yet a Mindvalley member, you can get access to the Abundance meditation + thousands of other profound guided tracks from the world’s top personal growth teachers on our Meditation Membership—just $99 a year (these meditations undoubtedly will become a part of your routine because of the impact they will have on your life).
Unlimited access to every course, livestream, or summit
Live events and exclusive in-person transformative experiences that you will get priority invitations to be a part of.
Access to the world’s top transformational teachers
Membership Rewards—special gifts, discounts, and surprises just for our members.
A full library of tools for lifelong growth.
Connection to the world’s largest community of conscious achievers—a global movement of real people being vulnerable and supporting each other to transform together
This is an invitation to commit to your evolution—to grow, heal, and awaken with thousands of others walking the same path.
Transformation starts the moment you say yes today.
Final thought
Every time I hear Bob’s voice say,
“You were born rich,” I remember that day in 2005 when he shoved me onto that stage.
I had no idea then that he wasn’t just introducing me to an audience. He was introducing me to my destiny.
Thank you, Bob.
For the push. For wisdom. For the love.
We’ll keep spreading your light—one mind, one meditation at a time.
And, when you do try the meditation, I’d love to hear from you. Share your thoughts, experiences, or even your favorite meditation story—leave a comment below. I read every one of them.
Getting acupuncture done fills most people with a warm and fuzzy sensation, and leaving the office might feel like being on cloud nine. The sun seems brighter, and the grass is somehow greener. Someone just cut you off in line? Instead of feeling pissed, you simply shrug and go on with your day.
As the study’s lead author, Cara Palmer, Ph.D., explains in a news release, “This study represents the most comprehensive synthesis of experimental sleep and emotion research to date, and provides strong evidence that periods of extended wakefulness, shortened sleep duration, and nighttime awakenings adversely influence human emotional functioning.”
