Phil’s Shadow

Groundhog Day. It is a perfect holiday. Made up and everyone knows it, knows it doesn’t matter, but needs to know anyway. Do you have any Groundhog days in your business?

You know those things that you worry about, think about, obsess about, but really mean nothing? Maybe you have a “thing” about employee time off, or personal internet use, or whatever, is this really what makes your business special or unique?

In your mind right now, list the top 5 things that take you to the next level. Is your Groundhog Day on that list? I bet not. Top 10 or 20 list even? I would say no. So maybe if you took the effort you spent looking for shadows and applied it to items 1 through 5 you would be better off.

Don’t let Phil’s shadow distract you from heading to the light.

There Is Still Time…Brother

I just re-watched the 1959 adaptation of the book, “On the Beach”. You can follow the hyperlink to more about the story. Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, end of the world, how can you go wrong? What really struck me was how different people deal with the end.

The end of the day, the end of work, the end of a job, relationship, friendship, life. Whatever is ending, everyone deals with it differently. So how do you deal with endings?

There are several “groups” of reactions. Denial, just act like everything is fine. Overreaction, the sky is falling the sky is falling. Adult, deal with the issues and move on. I’m sure I could make smaller sub-groups, but these will do.

The key part is, there is still time. If you see an end and you are proactive, there is still time. Time to plan. Don’t deny what you see and know, use that information. Don’t overreact, all things end. Do be an adult and develop a separation plan.

No one wants to start a partnership with an exit plan, but when will you be more reasonable or fair. Once emotion kicks in? No, make sure you have thought about the end, it is thinking about you.

All things do end, but there is still time…brother.

Changes

Changes happen everyday. Whether we want them, or cause them, or deny them, they happen. So the best we can hope for is to deal with them.

Change is a good healthy thing. This view is not normally seen until sometime in the future. I bet if you look back at most major changes in your life, they helped you grow.

When we make a change, it is better than when a change happens to us. At least it seems that way to me. It gives us that illusion of control. The biggest defense we have against change is choice.

We get to choose. Sometimes this choice causes change, and sometimes the choice deals with change, but the choice is our control.

It Only Makes Sense In The Moment

I heard Joe Strummer say this in the documentary about his life. He said when you get an idea, write it down. Even if you have to knock people out of the way, just drop to the floor and write it.

What ideas did you have today that made a lot of sense when you thought them? Can you even remember them now? Of course not. Why? You didn’t write them down or keep track of them in any way.

I make a point to keep track of my ideas. I do this by either emailing myself, or using the voice memo feature on my phone. Some of these ideas even make sense the next day. So while the thought process only makes sense in the moment, the idea itself can live on.

It May be a million Dollar idea, or just an idea in a million. Either way it is something that made sense in and for at least a moment, maybe it is work thinking about again tomorrow.

The Power of Deciding

If the decisions weren’t hard, no one would pay you to make them. Make no mistake, you are paid to make decisions, not to pass the buck, form a committee, make a spreadsheet, hold a meeting, or be paralyzed by too much data.

No matter what your position is in your company, you must make decisions everyday that will determine the success or failure of yourself and the company. In fact, your entire life is a series of decisions. What is the only thing worse than a bad decision? Not making a decision at all.

I tell this to my kids all the time. Some decisions are easy. Should you steal something or not? Easy decision. But sometimes you have 2 or more crappy choices. Now you still have to choose, but there is no perfect choice. Sometimes there isn’t even a good choice, but that is all you have.

So after you make a choice, now what? You live with it and make it the best you can. So what is more important than the decision itself? How you deal with the decisions you have made. Don’t be afraid to make a decision because it might be the wrong one. Understand that any decision you make with any thought at all will be better than a random decision given to you.

Embrace the power of deciding.

Mother’s Visit Sales

Mom is going to be here WHEN!?! Happens to all of us. We have known she is coming to visit for more than a month, yet it is always in the last couple of hours that sheets get changed and dishes get put away. So is your Mother the end of the month, quarter, or year?

To be blunt, it is on the calendar. It is coming, it is no surprise, why do we act like we are shocked? Generally it is lack of process. Most of us are good instinctive sales people. We get a lead, we see the need, we shoot, we score. Where is that next lead coming from? It should be coming from your process that says you need to make 20 calls a day to get 1 person to express interest, so you have 5 new deals in the pipeline a week. Your numbers may vary, but you know what I mean. Good sales process.

Knock knock, who’s there? Your Mother.