Bluefishing: The Art of Making Things Happen

by Steve D. Sims

Overview

Whether it’s climbing Everest, launching a business, applying for a dream job, or just finding happiness in everyday life, Steve Sims, founder of the luxury concierge service, Bluefish, reveals simple and effective ways to sharpen your mind, gain a new perspective, and achieve your goals.

From helping a client get married in the Vatican, to charming and connecting with business mogul Elon Musk, Bluefish founder Steve Sims is known to make the impossible possible. Now, in his first book, he shares tips, techniques, and principles to break down any door and step onto whatever glamorous stage awaits you.

By following Steve’s succinct yet insightful advice—as well as inspiration gleaned from the moving stories of others—you, too, can transform your life and achieve the impossible.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781501152528
Publisher:	Gallery Books
Publication date:	09/04/2018
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Steve Sims has been running his luxury travel and lifestyle concierge firm, Bluefish, for more than twenty years. With his unique talent for connecting with people’s passions, opening doors, and making things happen, Sims has developed an exclusive reputation and impressive client list of the world’s rich and famous. Bluefish has offices around the world and has been featured in Forbes, The New York Times, Entrepreneur, Variety, Worth, CNBC, and many other media outlets. Sims is also a keynote speaker at venues including Harvard and the Pentagon, and has spoken at many top entrepreneurial groups, including Mastermind Talks, Genius Networking Events, and Entrepreneur Society of SF. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, kids, dogs, and a lot of motorcycles.

Table of Contents

Introduction xiii

1 Knocking Down Walls 1

That's For Other People 3

You Don't Drown From Falling In Water, You Drown From Staying There 4

Knock 'EM Down 6

2 Power of the Password 9

Not Tonight 10

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish … 11

Building the World's Most Exclusive VIP List Without Even Knowing It 13

A Password For Every Door 14

3 Something For Everyone 17

Any Way You Want It 18

It's Not Going to Happen If It Benefits Only You 21

Show Them That You're Different From Every Other Person 23

Life Is a Box of Chocolates, After All 24

4 Be the Real Deal 27

Guarantee You're the Real Deal 28

The Experience Beats the Cash, Every Time 30

Always Sweat the Small Stuff 31

Ask Why Three Times 32

5 No Passion, No Point! 35

What Makes the Lights Turn On? 36

The World is Ending 38

Listen For It 39

Question Everything 43

Questioning Does Not Equal Doubting 45

Passion is a Language 46

6 Failure is Just More Discovery 49

It's Not About Your IQ, It's About Your / CAN 51

The Restaurateur Who Can't Cook 52

Failure is Paying For an Education 55

There Are No Obstacles, None At All 56

Seventh-Inning Stretch: Relax, You're in Good Company 59

A Short List of People Who Didn't Give Up 61

8 Be Afraid of Standing Still 65

Alter the Point of Fear 66

The Things That Happen to You Are Not Your Obituary 67

Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable 68

9 Ugly Works 71

Perfectly Imperfect 73

Skymall, Selfies, and Bar Tabs 75

A Handwritten Letter Beats an Email Every Time 76

Bluefishers Know How to Adapt Quickly 79

10 Personal Branding is Personal (Imagine That) 83

I Learned How to Be Me the Hard Way 84

The Worst Picture of Me Ever Taken 86

Redefining Wealth 88

How Do You Personally Brand? 89

The Chug Test 92

Don't Waste Your Time Counting Likes 94

11 The Power to Say No 99

Say No to Vampires 100

Don't Let Anybody Waste a Minute of Your Life 103

Audit Your Inner Circle 104

12 The Art of Delegation 109

Learn to Lead the Orchestra 110

You Can Only Grow By Giving Other People Responsibility 113

Give People Enough Rope to Climb Or Hang Themselves 113

Gain the Extra Time to Do What's Good 114

Efficiency Translates to Time Saved 117

The Small Stuff Gnaws At the Big Picture 119

13 What Makes a Brand Great? 121

How Do You Establish a Prestige Brand? 122

Forbes and the "Cool Guy" Article 123

Focus On Your Strengths and Ignore Your Weaknesses 124

14 The Art of Speaking Human 127

What Makes Business Personal? 130

Never Mind the Strangers 131

15 Give Them a Reason to Believe 135

The ROI On You 136

If Communication ISN'T Personal, It's Not Communication 139

How Much Does It Cost to Listen? 141

16 Sponge It Up 145

Get On Your Boots and Go 147

The Twin Devils of Fear and Embarrassment 149

Soak Up Just 1 Percent More Than You Knew Yesterday 150

Putting On the Ritz 152

You DON'T Have to Own It In Order to Experience It 153

17 Live With Passion, Move With Persistence 157

There's a Thin Line Between Patience and Complacence 158

The Greatest Salesman I Ever Knew 159

18 Actually Give a Damn 165

Focus On the Relationship 167

Actually Give a Damn 168

Listen and Act 169

Someday Doesn't Mean Anything 170

Manage Expectations (So That You Can Truly Overdeliver) 171

Clear Your Head Enough to Hear It 172

19 Don't Count Your Losses 175

Stop Counting Your Losses 177

Beware the Lucky Socks 180

Row All Day Long 182

Be As Selfish As You Have to Be 182

Your Right to Recharge 184

20 The Bluefishing Playbook 187

Stack Your Deck 188

The Bluefishing Playbook 189

Appendix: Live a Little 197

Bluefish Experiences 197

Acknowledgments 203

Editorial Reviews

08/14/2017
Sims, founder of a high-end “lifestyle concierge” firm, delivers a slim guide to achieving life goals and success, with a hearty dose of self-aggrandizement thrown in. Sims’s company, Bluefish, works to check off bucket-list items for his wealthy clients, such as getting married at the Vatican or receiving a private serenade from Andrea Bocelli. While pumping readers up with stories of his firm’s successes, he guides readers through how they can develop a mind-set that will allow them to achieve similar triumphs. This mind-set involves a focus on personal branding, methods for achieving “win-wins,” developing comfort with failure, making your business personal, and a host of cutesy tactics that likely work well but that add up to a magazine article at best rather than a full book. While some of the conversation about mind-set is solid and thought-provoking (for example, his advice for staving off the “twin devils” of fear and embarrassment), Sims’s book has the feeling of a book-length ad for his business. Although Sims constantly refers to his company’s activities, the connection between these stories and his energetic get-past-your-fear advice is tenuous at best. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"If you can dream it, Steve Sims is the guy who can make it happen."

Joe Polish

"[His] down to earth lessons-learned-the-hard-way honesty is why very entrepreneur should be listening to everything that he has to say."

Peter Lane Taylor

"Steve Sims defines what it means to be your authentic self. We have greatly enjoyed getting to know Steve, and we're so thankful to him and to The BlueFish for supporting our Academy Awards Viewing Party and our mission to end AIDS in our lifetime for the past several years."

Sir Elton John

...the modern day Wizard of Oz...

Entrepreneur Magazine