Happiness check-in 2024

Writing this piece of content at 5:14 AM.
I know that it will take a while.

But it deserves my time.

For the past 3 weeks, I've maxed out at 5 hours of sleep per night,
and it's not because of the babies.
The guilt hits when they're asleep, and I'm not.

It’s a period of changes for my life: 2 months ago I said I wanted to play in the Champions League - now I am playing that.

I probably feel the anxiety of the pre-game. 100% sure.
And it’s not the imposter’s syndrome, because I know how to play.

It’s more likely the fact I feel the responsibility of the team on my shoulders, like being the captain who plays a big final for the first time.

Table of Contents

• Happiness check-in 2024

• 1 | Why Gratitude Matters

  • 1.1 My gratitude to Salesforce

• 2 | My 3 rules for 2024 - where I am at

  • Rule #1 - Give your time the value it deserves ✅

  • Rule #2 - Family and health count the most ✅

  • Rule #3 - Don’t be afraid ❓️

• 3 | What CRM do I use

• Summary (TL,TR)

  • 🧠 Useful links

Emma, my 2nd one, is about to turn 1, and I am very excited about it.
Her first year of life passed very fast. Too fast.
I have to consider it in my happiness check-in.

I will cover this later, but just a quick refresh regarding what I believe that matters in life:
- family
- growth
- impact on others

And health, of course.

I had long discussions with my father about health.
And again, as my 1st mentor, he said I should stay focused on spending time with my family and taking care of them in all possible ways.

1 | Why Gratitude Matters

Today I skip motivational quotes.

Just want to share my POV about this topic, because I believe gratitude drives your happiness.

Gratitude is a choice. Like many other things.

Gratitude changed me.
It lets me connect with others deeply.

Gratitude made me kinder and stronger.
It's a mindset that sees the good in life's ups and downs.

Gratitude has helped me through tough times.
It can help you too. Be thankful for what you have.

1.1 My gratitude to Salesforce

I actually shouldn’t say Salesforce.
I should say Maya, Mattia, Matteo, Sergio, Giovanni, Simone, Giorgio, Alessandro.
And many, many others.

The ones who:

• hired me

• trained me

• listened to me

• supported me

I made tough decision, for my career path, for my personal growth, for more money.
For a lot of reasons related to impact and authority….
…I chose to quit my job.

My drivers were the same that brought me in Salesforce.

But I feel richer of experience, of knowledge, of relations.

I almost never felt like this while shifting.
Just the minimum I can say is thank you to all of you.

2 | My 3 rules for 2024 - where I am at

Rule #1 - Give your time the value it deserves ✅

Many freelancers, employees, and entrepreneurs make the huge mistake of wasting time in:

• Useless meetings

• infinite emails with no clue

• Business and offers without a foundation

• Toxic relations

Clients and colleagues love the ones who don’t look at the watch.
The ones who don’t have hard stops.

And I am sorry for the ones in burnout. But I have set boundaries in my life.

The Learnn Expert assessment has been a good exercise for me.
In the last 2 months several agencies and companies got in touch asking for consultations or fractional roles.

I used this as an excuse to think at my offer and to give the proper value to my time, considering my personal brand, my skills, my results.

Setting up the right prices for your valuable time helps also your target to filter itself.

And I feel 100% consistent with these ones.

The good thing about giving value to the time you dedicate to business stuff helps you to stay flexible.

if I get too many clients, I just double my rates to keep my spare time safe.

Example
This morning I received an email in which a prospect was asking me a quote for a huge CRM project.
He copy/pasted a crappy brief that he submitted to thousands of consultants and agencies.

I don’t waste time in building no-sense quotes.

Result to be achieved:
> Found a niche
> Delegating stuff
> Get ready to scale

Rule #2 - Family and health count the most ✅

Money buys things and eventually experiences.

The family will be happy to go to Venice.
Will be comfortable traveling in a BMW.

We’ll still be more comfortable staying hugged together eating popcorn watching Disney cartoons.

I recently said I’ve nothing to demonstrate.
- To my dad
- To my boss
- To my wife
- To my babies
- To my audience.

But I still don’t feel as compassionate as I should be while revenue (and profits) don’t grow as expected.

Rule #3 - Don’t be afraid ❓️ 

3 sleepless weeks are a synonym for FEAR

I am not afraid, I am terrified

Not because of career decisions.
Not because of flying a lot for my new roles 🪂 
Not because of profit loss or risky investments

I am terrified by the workload, the responsibilities, and the new routine I need to build.

I know, I am in a golden crave.

I need to work better in embracing fear!

Fears are disappointments.

Fears are worst-case scenarios that in most cases never happen.

And when the worst happens, it is often a blessing you needed more than anything else.

Fear is growth.

How far you progress in life depends on how willing you are to feel fear and act on it anyway.

Stop being so afraid of fear.

One day you will no longer be alive to afford the luxury of fear.

Use fear or it will use you.

3 | What CRM do I use

As you probably know (or should know), I am the CRM guy! 😎 

Some people in DMs and comments asked me what tool I use.

There’s a long answer to that, but I prefer to stay short: tools don’t really matter, as it depends on your sales process and your CRM culture.

If you don’t have good sales & marketing process, or they suck, even the best CRM won’t save your life.

Said that, here the tools I use / recommend

▶️ BreackCold + LeadDelta 

• BreakCold enhances CRM with LinkedIn and social insights.

• Improves your email outreach with customized messages.

• Increase engagement and conversions seamlessly.

I manage leads using these 2 platforms, and I monitor my TOFU / DMs and prospects’ feeds.

▶️ Attio 
Once I have discovery meetings/quotes, I move them into Attio.
I used Hubspot and Salesforce in the past, but as my sales process doesn’t require any big automation or integration, Attio is more than enough to monitor the pipeline and the stages of my deals.

During my career, I tested and used more than 40 CRMs.
Here short list of them

1. Salesforce

2. HubSpot CRM

3. Zoho CRM

4. Microsoft Dynamics 365

5. SAP CRM

6. Pipedrive

7. Freshsales (Freshworks CRM)

8. Insightly

9. SugarCRM

10. Keap (formerly Infusionsoft)

11. Leadspark

12. Agile CRM

13. Bitrix24

14. vTiger CRM

15. Notion

Some tools, like Active Campaign, Mailchimp, Brevo (etc.) try to behave like CRMs.

Trust in my words: they are NOT!
Here I explain why

Understanding CRM:
Debunking Common Misconceptions 👥 - Watch Video

Summary (TL,TR)

I spent hours at night thinking. Too many! 😫 

I quit my job @ Salesforce and I am super grateful to my almost ex-colleagues.

2024 Happiness Rules Recap

• Rule #1: Valuing time properly→ OK

• Rule #2: Prioritizing family and health over everything else → OK

• Rule #3: Confronting fear as a growth mechanism → 60%

CRM I use
The sales Process is more important than the tool
Mindset is more effective than tool
I use Lead Delta | Break Cold | Attio

CRM insight
Against the misconception of ESP like Active Campaign, Mailchimp and Brevo being CRMs.

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🧠 Useful links

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