Yesterday, I gave a 90-minute talk that pivoted off my book, "The Goal is to Win," to nine people during an extended lunch. A potential candidate attended, but it was mostly strong conservatives and grassroots leaders.

I currently have five events scheduled where I give these presentations. They focus on preparing us, the people, and any potential candidates for running against a bad incumbent. The goal, after all, is to win. We need to have the right representative who will actually listen to us and represent us in every office.

More events will queue up soon.

One of the key points I make in the book and in the seminar is that challengers should never announce until they are ready. And by ready, I mean their marketing materials are prepped, they've got their messaging down pretty well, and they're ready to take questions from people about their run.

During the presentation yesterday, a man in the restaurant who was not with us saw that we were conservatives. An elderly military veteran, he sent some Trump pins to us via the waitress, and we invited him over to thank him.

One member of our group, during the introductions around the room, pointed to the would-be candidate and said, "This man is going to run for office and represent you!"

So, the gentleman turned to the candidate and asked, "What are you running for?"

That's how it happens... the moment someone hears that you might be running, you will be deluged with questions and they will want to vet you. What's your background? What are your values? How do you feel about TEXIT? What should we do about property taxes? What do you think about our legislative priorities? Do you have a website? Social media? A business card? How much money have you raised?

Knowing that this was beginning to happen, I intervened and asserted that we were looking at what office and this was a preliminary discussion. A few gentle nudges later away from this line of questioning, it was forgotten and the potential challenger breathed a sigh of relief.

This is why we need preparation and no one should announce until the candidate feels ready for the world to discover the prepared campaign. We immediately work to vet a candidate, and regrettably we as a people would rather dance with the devil we know than the devil we don't. Challengers can't make too many mistakes. People look for reasons to distrust them. A lack of preparation will cause people to believe that the challenger and the campaign are not credible.

The book goes into some depth about the steps to take by the people and the candidate to get ready. The seminar / workshop goes into greater depth.

Another thing I mention is how von Steuben trained our troops during the revolution. Mostly, he instilled discipline into their ragtag ranks. Likewise in a campaign, before meeting the enemy, so to speak, you have to have discipline. Your branding, your messaging, your initial funding... all need to be pretty locked in before you announce.

Because the goal is to win.

Peter Drucker is a pretty well-known management consultant. He said, "Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things."

My variation of that is we are at our best and can change the world when we do the right things right. And better yet if we do it with the right people who also do the right things right.

That requires preparation and discipline.

Hit me up if you want a campaign workshop in your area. The fee is $0. I just ask that you pay for the travel expenses for Nicole and me. Let's win :)