Living to regret it

Do you say things that a future more mature, enlightened and experienced you would wish he/she did not say?

It’s inevitable I guess.  We say things we swear are true, only to mature and change our mind.

If you are self-aware, when you feel some emotional self-righteous outburst coming on, you will pay attention to the little voice inside that says “maybe I am wrong” or “I really don’t know a lot about it and need to get the whole picture”. 

This can avoid embarrassment and loss of credibility for you.

None of us know everything.  And our knowledge is from our point of view and our experience, which is unique to us.

Ask questions first, or instead.

Weapons of Math Destruction

The numbers.  Either you know them, or you don’t.

If you aren’t doing well and you can’t understand it from reading your Income Statement (P &L), your Balance Sheet, and other key metrics in your business, you’ll keep doing things that don’t work until you run out of something – money, energy, time or will.

Do you know your numbers and what they are telling you?

Work Hard on Smart Things

Many people who don’t get very far work hard.

You want to work hard on things that move the needle; that make a difference.

What are you working on today?

Success is…

Many responses to this question have been written.  Here’s one –

Success is doing things you love with people you love.

How do you like that one?  

Are you doing things you love with people you love?

Who are you hiring?

“A company becomes the people it hires, not the plans it makes.”

Your company HAS become the people you hired.  You can see that.

What kind of people do you need to hire to become the company you want?

Your Ideal Life (Part 4)

So far we have asked you what your ideal life is, we said that a life of leisure was not a good answer, and that you will have to learn how to be a good leader and fix your business to live an ideal life.

Now let’s consider this.  Think back to the person you were when you started your business.  Do you think that person would look at the you of today and say there have been some significant victories?  That person may have even said “I will be happy when ________ happens”.  And ________ is where you are today!

We all want things to be better, no matter how good they are now.  In fact, that is a quality of any creator like an entrepreneur – never being satisfied and working to create something better.  But that can be a psychological trap.  It will never be perfect, and using perfect as the indicator to when we will be happy, is a fool yardstick; a game you can’t win.

Each day is a step on a journey that never ends.  As Jim Rohn said, “Learn to be happy with all you’ve got while you pursue all you want.”

Don’t wait to be happy.

Because today, with your continued positive action, is your ideal life unfolding.

Your Ideal Life (Part 3)

We have been talking about what your ideal life would be.  Surely your answers at different ages in life will be different.  And, for some, an ideal life, even if achieved, has a way of getting boring over time, and we want something different.

The purpose of starting or owning a business is, among other things, to enable the owner to live an ideal life as a result of owning the business.  This is not to assume that the owner’s goal is to make mountains of money so they may move to Tahiti at age 32 and live out the rest of their days on the beach.  

The very thing that caused the entrepreneur to come to own a business in the first place, is the thing that would make him/her unhappy with a life of leisure anyway.  Entrepreneurs need to create and produce and see how far they can go to be fully expressed and satisfied.

An “ideal life” at this stage may be working and feeling forward motion in your business toward the ideal business, enjoying working with others, eliminating persistent problems, having a wonderful family life and a deep personal relationship, being healthy, and having fun.

You can do that well before your business is very profitable.

But let’s go back to the original question and pretend we do not own a business.  We may be thinking “my ideal personal life is not possible given my situation”.  

Who got you into that situation? 

Your ideal life may require that you take responsibility, learn what you must, and take the actions necessary so you can live your ideal personal life.

It’s the same when we own a business.  (Being self-employed is not owning a business.  You get paid for the work YOU do, and as soon as you stop working, you stop getting paid.)  You have this living breathing organization that demands your attention or it will die.  It rules your world.  You cannot leave it and it feeds you constant problems that stand in the way of you living your ideal life.

In order to command control of your business, instead of it controlling you, you have to learn how to fix it, and lead it better.  If it’s hard and not fun, you are doing it wrong.  So to live your ideal life, you have to learn to be the kind of person who can master the business so it serves you first.

More tomorrow….

Your ideal life (Part 2)

Yesterday I asked what your ideal life would be.  Some of you I suspect may have said “I don’t want to work anymore”, or some version of it.

This is not a good answer.  

While the idea of not working anymore sounds good on some levels, this is not what we are here for, or made for.

A life that does not serve anyone in any way can’t be one that brings satisfaction. (Be careful what you wish for.) It may be fun for a while, but not having a purpose, not using our rational minds to create positive results will lead to stagnation, and/or accelerated aging, a loss of our mental edge, and feeling no purpose.

Yes, there may be a time for “retirement” from a particular job, but to go to a figurative rocking chair at age 55, 60 or 65 and do nothing is a waste of your experience, life, time and talent. 

Of course, you can have a worthy purpose and use your abilities to make a meaningful contribution without having a paying job.

But to be a consumer and not a producer, while it is our right to do so, is immoral.  Any excuse that you have enough money to do so has nothing to do with it.

Men and women were given faculties to be used.

The answer “My ideal life would be to do nothing (but entertain yourself)(and be served no matter how much money you have)” is a poor choice that will not bring about any feelings of you being the best version of you in the world.

What is your ideal life?

More on this tomorrow….

What is your ideal life? (part 1)

If you had a magic wand and could start clean and create whatever you wanted, what would your ideal life be?

How would you interact with your business?

In pondering this question, I’d say my life is pretty close to my ideal life.  I love to work and be creative and see what is possible for me and my teams, and I have the freedom to do what I want.  I work at home most mornings, love the people I work with, and don’t work on weekends.  (Although I am on my porch right now on a sunny Sunday morning writing Think Daily messages – but I don’t HAVE to do this right now.)

Nevertheless, there are things I’d like to improve.  And by Zooming out right now and thinking about it and writing it down, I can make the changes now if I can, or work to create the conditions where I am able to make these changes.

What is your ideal life?

More on this tomorrow….

Does your business serve you?

Only a business that allows its creator to accomplish their personal goals can be considered successful by them.

Has your business enabled you to accomplish your personal goals yet?