Founder of 1% Better™ | Former accountant, future author | Follow me for the best self-development content on LinkedIn

Former accountant.
Future author.

I share actionable, educational, and entertaining self-development content to help my readers live their best lives.

Join 65K+ receiving my top 5 discoveries every week:

https://colbynewsletter.ck.page

Colby Kultgen

A few weeks ago, I caught myself thinking "wow, that was a really good presentation" about someone I work with.

And then I just...didn't say anything.

I've been noticing that this happens pretty often. 

I'll think something genuinely kind about someone, yet I just keep it to myself. 

Why is that?

I think it's because saying something nice to someone feels a bit exposed. There's this tiny moment of vulnerability between the compliment leaving your mouth and their reaction. 

What if it comes off wrong? 
What if they don't take it the way I meant it? 

So we say nothing. 

We let a 0.001% chance of awkwardness win over a near-certainty of making someone's day.

To be honest, I think most of us are walking around with a backlog of unspoken kind words. Compliments we thought but didn't give. Gratitude we felt but didn't express.

So I don't know about you, but I'm embracing the Tell Them Theory.

No more keeping the good stuff to myself.

A reframe that changed my life:

Failure = Data.

Every time you try something (win or lose), you get valuable feedback.
A real-time report on what works—and what doesn’t.

Personally, I let the fear of failure hold me back for wayyy too long.

I would overthink. Overplan. Overperfect. Then never actually do anything.

But then one day I realized something:
The information I needed was in the reps I was avoiding.

The lessons weren't in the planning. They were in the doing.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not out here actively seeking failure. But I understand now that it's an unavoidable part of the process. And if it's going to happen anyway, I might as well squeeze every lesson out of it.

So now, after every failure, I ask myself 3 questions:

1. What went wrong? (Be specific.)
2. What decision or action led to that outcome?
3. What can I do differently next time?

That's it. No spiral. No shame. Just data.

Fail forward.

———
image credit: valuethemind on IG

I've been thinking about this a lot lately.

Rejection can be terrifying.

So why, when someone frames it like this, does it suddenly not seem so scary anymore?

Here's what I've realized: 

We're not scared of the rejection itself. We're scared of the uncertainty.

It's not the volume of "nos" we can't handle—it's not knowing if the next one will be the "yes".

That's why I find this so interesting.

If you KNEW you were guaranteed success after 100 rejections, you'd be hunting them down. 

You'd be applying to everything, pitching everyone, practically begging people to say no because each one gets you closer.

And the funny part is that in reality, it usually takes WAY less than 100.

Most breakthroughs happen at like rejection #8 or #15. But people quit at #3 because they can't bear the uncertainty. 

So here's the trick: Just pretend you know it's coming. 

Treat every rejection like you're counting down to something guaranteed. Because honestly? If you keep going, you kind of are. 

It's basically tricking yourself into success by removing the thing that was going to stop you anyway—the fear that it might not work.

Hot take:

"Be grateful" is terrible advice.

Not because gratitude isn't powerful (it is).

But because this "advice" almost never comes with practical ways of actually doing it.

We've all heard the “write 3 things down in a journal” advice, but for me it's always felt a bit forced.

And besides, why would we expect one method to work for everyone?

That’s why I gave myself a mission:

Come up with a handful of gratitude practices that don’t involve writing in a journal (not that there's anything wrong with that).

Here's what I came up with:

1. Look for glimmers
Glimmers are the opposite of triggers. They're those tiny moments in your day that make you feel joy, peace, or gratitude. Once you train your brain to spot them, they start appearing everywhere.

2. Snap a joy photo
Take one picture per day of something that brought you joy. A cup of coffee, a funny street sign, the way the sunlight hits your desk. Not for social media, just for you.

3. The "Tell Them" Theory (h/t Vex King)
When someone does something you appreciate, actually tell them. Doesn't have to be profound. Just: "I'm glad you're in my life" or "Thanks for always making me laugh."

4. Practice future nostalgia
Throughout your day, pause and ask: "Will I miss this moment someday?" Your current morning routine, the commute you complain about, even your kid's phase of asking "why?" fifty times a day.

Which of these resonates with you?

Let me know your favorite ways to practice gratitude.

The 8 most dangerous words in the English language:

“I’ll do it when work gets less busy.”

I’ve caught myself saying this more times than I can count.

Trying to convince myself that one day everything will settle down. That I’ll finally have time for the trip, the hobby, the experiences I keep putting off.

But that’s just not how life works.

The reality is, you have to make time for those things. Otherwise, work will quietly take over your entire schedule.

It’s Parkinson’s Law in action:
​“Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.”

I’ve noticed this in my own life.

When I schedule work first, it expands to consume everything.

But when I schedule something meaningful first, the opposite happens. Work compresses to fit around it.

We’ve even seen this play out at scale with the four-day workweek experiments. Companies reduced working hours, yet productivity stayed the same or even improved.

That’s why I’ve started being more intentional about putting meaningful things on the calendar first.

One framework I love comes from my friend Ben Meer, originally popularized by Jesse Itzler:

The 1-6-4 Method.
​
1. Plan 1 big “year-making” event​
Something that defines your year. A marathon. A major trip. A personal challenge. Something that forces you to grow.
​
2. Schedule 6 mini-adventures throughout the year​
Lock in one small, exciting experience every other month.
A camping trip. A concert. A weekend away. Hosting a dinner party. Exploring a new part of your city.
​
3. Implement 4 positive habits, one each quarter​
Add one small habit every three months that improves your life.
Reading daily. Walking more. Waking up earlier. Being more intentional with your time.

♻️ repost this if you found it helpful.

I dealt with negative self-talk for years.

And trust me, it's no fun going through life as your own worst critic.

That’s why I love this GPS reframe.

You don’t need to turn a mistake into a story about yourself.
Just treat it like a missed turn.

Recalculate.
And keep going.

———

P.S. I share 5 ideas like this in my newsletter every Monday: 
percentbetter.com

We're all guilty of doing this (myself included).

Someone cuts us off in traffic, and we're fuming about it for hours.

A coworker sends a passive-aggressive email, and suddenly the whole afternoon feels ruined.

We allow five bad minutes to contaminate our mood for the rest of the day.

The best way I've found to combat this?

​Gretchen Rubin's Four Quarters Technique:

“Split your day into four quarters: morning, midday, afternoon, evening.
​
If you blow one quarter, you don't blow the whole day. You just reset for the next one.
​
Fail small, not big.”

Don't let a bad five minutes ruin a good 24 hours.

graphical user interface, text, application, chat or text message

5 ways to build unshakeable confidence (in work and life):

➊ Do what you say you're going to do
It really is that simple. Set achievable goals for yourself and follow through on them daily. As Alex Hormozi puts it, “You don’t become confident by shouting affirmations in the mirror, but by having a stack of undeniable proof that you are who you say you are.”

➋ Don’t play the comparison game
Comparison is the thief of joy and confidence. Define what success means to you, and tune out the noise. Be so busy watering your own grass that you don’t have time to notice if someone else’s is greener.

➌ Learn to say “no”
Saying “no” isn’t selfish, it’s self-respect. Do things because you genuinely want to, not because you feel obligated. The more aligned your choices are, the more confident you become.

➍ Build your body, build your mind
Taking care of your physical and mental health is one of the highest-leverage things you can do. Everything gets easier when you feel strong, capable, and energized.

➎ Surround yourself with people who lift you up
Confidence is contagious. The more you’re around people who believe in themselves, the more it reinforces your belief in yourself. They remind you what’s possible, even on days you forget.

Confidence doesn’t arrive all at once. It’s earned through small, consistent actions that build trust in yourself over time.

DISCLAIMER: This is just my opinion.

P.S. I made a list of 25 books everyone should read before they die. 

👉 Link in the comments.

Productivity isn’t just about “getting more done”.

It’s about spending the short amount of time you have on this planet intentionally, rather than losing it to distraction.

♻️ Repost this if you found it helpful.

how to finish 8 hours of work in 4 hours

A few free things online I think everyone should take advantage of.

What did I miss?

free things online everyone should take advantage of

I saw this post and loved it.

Credit to peakperformancewithjulia on IG.

Make sure to save so you can revisit it later.

12 work habits that will transform your 2026

How to rewire your brain to enjoy doing hard things:

How to rewire your brain to enjoy doing hard things

A step-by-step guide to decluttering your mind.

👉 P.S. I spent 100+ hours building a habit tracker—link in the comments.

A step-by-step guide to decluttering your mind

7 skills we should have learned in school but never did

7 addictions you need to break in 2026 to become your best self.

I've been guilty of every one of these.

Awareness is the first step, then you can start to do something about it.

Save this post and send it to someone who needs it.

7 addictions to break in order to become your best self

which of these resonates with you?

Let’s face it...

The modern attention span is cooked.

10-second TikTok videos.
18 tabs open at a time.
7 apps checked before getting out of bed.

This post is designed to help you fight back.

How to build your focus like a muscle

I'm an overthinker.

In fact, right now I'm overthinking what I should write for this caption.

Luckily, over the years I've gotten much better at choosing my overthinking battles.

Which is why today I want to share 7 things that aren't worth your spending your precious mental energy on.

Repost if it resonates!

7 things you're probably overthinking

Sergiu Bungărdean

I run a marketing business called Demand Hive and work as a marketing consultant.

At Demand Hive, we unf*ck your messaging in 3 weeks by helping you clearly explain what you do and rewriting your homepage so you can win more projects.

Through Hey Sergiu, I work directly with founders on consulting, advisory, and custom marketing projects. This includes quick input on specific problems, ongoing support, or hands-on help on clearly defined initiatives.

I’ve done this for 100+ founders across design agencies, IT companies, software houses, consultancies, solopreneurs, and more.

Founder & LinkedIn Personal Brand Manager

We help solopreneurs, founders, coaches, CEOs & executives build their personal brand on LinkedIn in order to increase visibility, generate inbound leads and improve credibility.

Most people write on LinkedIn to get clients.

Nothing wrong with that, but for most, it doesn’t work.

– They get a few leads from time to time
– New revenue depends mostly on referrals

This is the most common “playbook” I see. And one of the main reasons is this:

They’re doing things like it’s still 2022.

Back then, the recipe was simple:

1) Be good at what you do and have results
2) Talk about what you know and help others

Basically, a mix of delivery + marketing. But we’re not in 2022 anymore.

ChatGPT, Claude, and other AI tools changed things.

The marketing that was enough back then is now the bare minimum. So it doesn’t work the way it used to.

If your entire strategy is posting and waiting for inbound leads, you might keep waiting.

The only way to gain control over how new clients come in is by talking to people, helping them, and getting paid for it.

Call it a strategy, a system, a process, it doesn’t really matter.

What matters is being able to book 1–5 sales calls per week, depending on the pace you want.

Helping B2B service founders book 1–5 sales calls per week

There was a time when I was afraid of doing sales.

That's because I was looking at sales the wrong way:

– Being pushy
– Risking my reputation
– Looking desperate

That’s how I saw sales because that’s how I saw others doing it.

They were pushy and sometimes desperate.

But I realized I don't have to be like that.

And if I don’t, I actually stand out.

Today, I treat sales the same way a doctor treats a patient.

– I ask how they feel
– I diagnose the problem
– I recommend a solution

I don't feel I have to sell anymore.

I help people get better. That's it.

P.S. Think about content in 2026. Most of it is bad and written with AI, but that doesn’t mean we should stop creating. It just means bad content is bad. Good content will still be good. Same with sales.

My revenue used to depend on referrals.

Now, I have 100% control over it.

Do I want to book 1/3/5 sales calls next week?

Great. I know exactly how to do that.

This is how I stopped running in circles:

– I don’t doubt the content I write anymore.
– I don’t wonder if it’s the right thing to do.
– I don’t rely on luck or hope.

I let the conversations I have with people dictate:

– What I write about each week.
– What I should focus on.
– How I control the entire process.

Being able to book 1–5 sales calls per week is my “secret sauce.”

I am 100% confident my business will grow week by week.

I either sign clients or increase my revenue.

Or I know exactly what my next move should be.

Instead of wasting time, I progress week by week.

Highly recommend building the same kind of control.

The foundation of sales is understanding what people truly want, why they're stuck, and showing them a path forward. Everything else is bullsh*t.

I’ve been selling B2B services since 2010.

One mistake kept me stuck for years:

Thinking I had to convince people to buy.

Bullsh*t.

Sales is about helping people get better.

You can’t do that if you focus on yourself.

Focus on them.
Understand their goals.
Understand why they’re stuck.

When they feel understood, your solution feels obvious.

That’s when they buy and stay happy.

taplio

The Battle

Colby Kultgen

Sergiu Bungărdean

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreColby Kultgen's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreSergiu Bungărdean's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Colby Kultgen

Sergiu Bungărdean

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Colby Kultgen's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreSergiu Bungărdean's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreColby Kultgen's LinkedIn Performance