“The” Economy

The weather is rough.. a front is blowing in. The wind is howling and it’s raining a little. As the temperature drops the guy in charge says the golf tournament is still on. 

“The” weather was bad. Some played well and some didn’t. The ones who struggled fought “the” weather and the ones who played well knew there is no such thing as “the” weather. 

There is only “your” weather and “my” weather. 

Same goes for “the” economy. 

I’m Faster Than Usain

Picture Usain and I at the start line. We’re gonna do a lap as fast as we can. The crowd is big and the stakes are high. There’s laughter and curiosity at the spectacle. It’s gonna be super close and no one knows what the outcome is going to be. Will it be me or Usain? You might be wondering what you’re missing. 

Craig isn’t a world class runner… even if he was he wouldn’t have a chance. Why do all these people find this fun to watch? 

The answer is leverage. You see, Craig is on his bicycle and he’s a pretty good cyclist. The lever makes it interesting. The lever makes it possible. You can always make up in leverage what you lack in ability. 

Pedal hard and make your mark.

Whack-A-Mole

Constantly working in your business is a trap. It’s a trap because it feels like you’re making headway. When you whack the moles and they are all down, you get a win. You’re ahead of the next thing that pops up. 

The hammer is in ready position and you lick your lips in anticipation… Two moles pop up. Whack! Whack! It feels so good to smash them back down. It feels like you’re in control. Like you’re in charge. You’re the fastest reactor to subdue what comes your way. Congrats.

Being a world class responder pays a decent wage. The cost of being a world class mole-whacker is fatigue and limited growth. 

If you’re tired of whacking moles, teach your business to whack them so you can have the clarity to see the big picture and make your mark.

Floors and Ceilings

Entrepreneurial people like floors and hate ceilings. We want a floor we can count on. A floor that’s solid, stable, and predictable. Imagine a floor as a baseline foundational “bread and butter” of a business. 

Looking for your floor? It’s most likely what’s already working. The thing that brings in the most cash with the least effort. Developing a floor is the first step to a profitable business. 

But first, it’s worth understanding the relationship between floors and ceilings. You can trade time for consistent money and have a safe floor.  You can manage people and create a safe floor. You can dig ditches and have a safe floor for as long as your body lasts. The reality of this type of floor is that it has a clear ceiling. 

If you’re using your muscles it’s about 100k. If you’re managing people it’s typically < 300k. It’s worth noticing what floors have ceilings when you’re building. 

Pro Tip:

The wealthiest people in the world have vision and can move the masses with their words. History has proven this over and over. It’s worth learning the art of persuasion because once you understand this, the ceiling dissolves.

The Blood

The money in your wallet represents a sale. Somebody somewhere sold something and now it’s in your wallet. Glad I have you thinking. Thinking about the flow of money. 

The business you’re involved in has money because someone was persuaded that the thing it offers has more value than the money itself. Sales and marketing are the lifeblood of any business but it doesn’t end there. 

Systems protect. The system ensures fulfillment of the promise and makes it possible to increase the velocity of the sale. It protects the margin. It protects the money. If sales and marketing are the lifeblood, the systems and processes are the veins.

If you want the money to stick you’d better have both.

Forgetting

Forgetting feels terrible. You’ve given your word, you’ve committed, people are counting on you, and you’ve forgotten. 

The knee-jerk might be to make up a little story, but that makes it worse. The secondary response is to own it but add an excuse to justify it. Both are natural protection moves...
“I’m sorry I forgot, it’s just that…” 

It’s worth practicing 100% ownership... "I’m sorry, I forgot.” (Notice the period.)
It takes courage to own our mistakes without softening the blow for ourselves. It turns out owning it 100% is a better approach.

Mentor Myth

If you’re looking for a mentor it’s doubtful one will appear eager to grab your hand and take you to the next level. It’s a magical symbiotic relationship that is hard to find. Don’t stop looking. 

It’s worth considering having multiple mentors. They fall in a few categories: health, wealth, and love. 

It’s probably futile to look for one that fits all three. Mentors come and go based on your life stage in the three categories. Hold them with an open hand and count yourself blessed when the magic happens. Some are lasting, but most are seasoned. 

The one mentor that never fails is a book. You get smart people’s POV for $15 - max. What a bargain. If you’re not much of a reader, start listening. With books you can get very granular with the topic. 

You live in a time where info is limitless. 

What you consume from whom, is up to you. It’s worth noting that it’s okay to pay a premium to collapse time. If your time is valuable, that is.

Your Ideas

Trade secrets aren’t always secrets. Hoarding them, protecting them, and hiding them should be thought through. I find it funny when someone sends over a non-disclosure agreement on an idea that is just an idea. The market may not care about the idea at all. There isn’t anything to protect until it’s making money. Spending any time or effort protecting an idea is a waste of resources when it hasn’t been executed. 

Execution is the key. I could give away my entire business plan to my competitor and not compromise market share. If my competition got my business plan in the mail, she’d be interested to see it but it wouldn’t be a game changer and she’d know it. She’d know it because she’d have to execute and that’s the hard part. 

Ideas are like guns… they aren’t good or bad until you pull the trigger. When someone steals your idea he’s only done the easy part. He is only a threat if he executes more effectively than you and the market happens to care.

Dr. Of Sales

Brain science and marketing studies show people buy to avoid pain more than seek pleasure. It’s worth learning how to articulate your customers' pain better than they can. 

Feeling understood gives them hope that you might be able to ease the pain. Putting yourself in the position of  “yoda” will bring questions your way. Questions from your customers are a good sign. A good sign because they see you as the guide. 

Kinda like the doctor that might have the solution to ease the pain. Once this happens, you can stop selling and start prescribing. 

Chasing 20 Somethings

Being middle aged has benefits. You’ve been around the block a few times, made more mistakes than the guy that thinks he knows. He thinks he knows because circumstances haven’t disagreed enough. 

Being middle aged gives you cred with the 20 or 30 somethings, because they are starting to “know.” They are starting to know in their soul they need a big brother. A big brother to watch their back, encourage, and advise. 

This relationship tends to de-jade the middle aged guy. 

The careless speed, attitude, and youth inspires lightness, agility, and the bright side. It pushes back on the jade. So beware of your contemporaries. Chasing the middle aged will get you more of the same.

Feedback

Being open to feedback is easier said than done. It should be a gift, but often it feels offensive… Especially when it’s unsolicited. 

Building a feedback loop during your project can make it easier to hear comments from the onlookers.

If you go into your cave to “perfect it”, it feels terrible when you bring your work into the light and someone poo-poo’s it the first moment they see it. 

“How rude… don’t they know how hard I worked on this?” Yes, you worked hard, but maybe the real work is being vulnerable and showing it to safe people along the way.

Dirty Pain

Dirty pain cycles from foggy to scary. So scary it gets pushed back into the fog. Dirty pain gets foggy by numbing. Numbing the emotions with whatever makes it stop. 

Foggy pain feels like relief from the dirt… but actually just delays it for a bit. The pain is dirty because it slaps harder once you get off the numbing merry-go-round. Facing the pain feels like a threat. The brain sees it just like a junkyard dog chasing you. 

Clean pain is the same pain, but without the fog. Clean pain is felt in all it’s detail with a present mind. A mind that is clear enough to ask for a little help. It’s worth learning how to move through the pain. The merry-go-round will make you dizzy and slap you down when the music stops.

MG: Nic Lesmeister 

Once I have ____, then I’ll…

Once I have a license, then I’ll…

Once I have more cash, then I’ll…

Once I have more time, then I’ll…

Once I have a website, then I’ll…

Once I’m healthy, then I’ll…

Once this project is over, then I’ll…

Once I purchase the equipment, then I’ll…

There are circumstantial gatekeepers that block the next step… Or do they?

Once you validate the gatekeeper, then you give it power. Ignoring reality will always cost you but leveraging the gatekeeper as a reason to wait might also cost you. 

Do the work you can do today, because the gatekeeper isn’t the boss of you. 

The key to the gate is to simply begin.

Dreamer

Dreaming big can be misunderstood. Some people are labeled as “dreamers” followed by a mild eye roll. The eye roll comes from the lack of execution. 

The other side of the coin are the executors who struggle to dream. A dream represents pressure. The executer already has a long list of things he wants to get done. The dream of the next level can be too much. 

It’s worth refraining the dream for the executor. Allow space and hold it lightly. Quiet the judge in your head. The dreams are in there and they matter immensely. 

No pressure though.

Insecure Work

When we have to do something that is difficult, something that will take time, effort, focus, and discipline, most of us pause. We pause because we’re gearing up. We are getting ready to get ready to execute. 

Right before we jump into the important work, the tendency is to fill time to do the insecure work. Insecure work anesthetizes the anxiety by knocking out small tasks to get the feeling of productivity while not doing what’s important. Insecure work looks awesome from the outside and actually gives you relief from the anxiousness of the more important ominous project. 

If it’s small executable tasks that make you feel good, then pull out a meaningful bite-sized chunk of the project and execute it!

Go make your mark.

MG C. Jarvis 

"I'm So Busy"

“Busy” is a disease, not a badge of honor. It’s frantic reactions destroy important work. The important work takes intention and can’t be executed in a busy state. Usually, urgent things are fool’s gold. You think it’s important, but is it really? Does it really deserve your precious attention? Attention that can be used to create. 

The problem with busyness is it feels and sounds so productive.

If it’s not urgent, and not important, kick it out of your life. 

If it’s urgent, but not important, try to reduce it. 

Creativity and reactivity are like oil and water. Notice what you’re reacting to and start pruning.

"I don't do it for the money..."

It seems like a noble statement. It’s a defensive statement against the assumption of greed. The truth is most great things can’t be done without the money. The money buys options, infrastructure, and can pay awesome people to make the thing even better. 

Being motivated by money is normal. It’s a great incentivizer because of what it buys. Greed is selfish and being motivated to work hard in exchange for money is only selfish if you’re greedy. 

There’s nothing better than a big pile of money in the right hands.

Norm!

Being misunderstood can be paralyzing. It means you deeply care about the perception of others. Having a good reputation sometimes means you must comply with the norms. 

Norms aren’t always that helpful. They’re relative to the masses and the masses are often wrong. Stay the course and do what is right… do what only you can, and don’t check it against the norm… unless you want to be average. 

Average behavior will douse your unique flame. Count it as progress when you find yourself misunderstood for a season.

Go make your mark!

Attention Settings

Virtually every corner of our world is overplayed with software. Software that tries to improve the user experience. The reality is that while user experience is vital, the profit lies in your attention. It’s worth noting the currency of the social media creators is your attention. Attention is the low hanging fruit because most are on autopilot. Most don’t think to protect it.

Here’s the kicker, since attention is the currency, innovative software settings that could help you protect your attention aren’t typically baked into the software. (They have no incentive)

The money gathers around getting your attention, not making your life better. It turns out, improving your life is your job. It’s your job to decide what gets your attention. It’s your job to protect it… and treat it as sacred. If you don’t, “they” will gladly take it and sell it to the highest bidder.

The "Snap"

Snap judgments can save your life. Trusting your gut to sidestep danger is hardwired in our brains. The snap action is a two-edged sword. A sword that saves and a sword that severs. Applying the “snap” in relationships almost always sabotages trust and connection.

When someone is struggling and they build up the courage to share it with you, avoid the snap. The “snap” solution is the fastest way to disconnect. Take a deep breath… hold your tongue, and listen. Seek to understand… not fix. They will love you for it.