When your day doesn’t work out as planned and everything goes Pete Tong; there’s one thing you should keep in mind. Tomorrow is another day, and today is the day of new beginnings!
When you respond to a situation in a way you regret, when that business deal didn’t work, or the job interview you went for wasn’t successful, it’s easy to get discouraged. It’s easy to get disappointed about most things in life, but here is a thought we should all ponder on in those moments:
When one door closes, an even better door opens.
So why not start today fresh. Forget the disappointments of yesterday and push through for a greater day, today. There is a jewel to be found and treasured, in our lives, everyday …the question is are you seeing it?
I came across the video below through a friend’s Facebook page. I wanted to highlight it, as it inspired me to think about the things in life that I value? We are not just human doers; we are human beings and in order to be who we are, we must know what that looks like. Sounds simple, but it’s shocking how many of us don’t know this stuff because if we did, then our lives would look pretty different from what they look like now.
Now don’t get me wrong, sometimes live takes twists and turns, and some things cannot be undone, but I’m not focusing on the end result as much as trying to get myself and you (if you so desire) to think about your life each day and reassess your priorities in life. Who says we need to be in an industry for 40 years and that is what makes us a success? It’s only a success if it was your decision in the first place, but far to often we make decisions based on fear.
‘What will that person think if I…’
‘But what if I take a step and it doesn’t work…”
‘What if…’
‘What if…’
What if it works!?
Our lives are driven by many factors, but whatever drives you is taking you to a destination. Do you know where your decisions are taking you? Have you thought about it?
Many of us get on the train, buss or plane and hop to work every day without thinking much about anything else except that we are going to do a job that we don’t have any real interested in, and then coming home to start living our lives – only by that point we have no more energy to do what we really love to do because we’ve spent it already doing something out of obligation rather than desire; or at least without any real strategy behind it.
Giving away free samples and gifts are all great if your business is built from a place of trust and integrity, but if you can’t provide customers with a service that is sustainable, then you shouldn’t think that giving away free tickets to a concert is going to be enough to keep people buy in.
Gimmicks’s don’t work. As the consumers choice increases, our expectations in what we look for in any one supplier will inevitably change – and this is more than an economic issue.
What if you could achieve the impossible? What would that be for you? I love the fact that Felix Baumgartner from Austria broke the record for the highest jump – from the edge of the earth, and broke the speed of sound barrier on his way down.
I’m sure there were many thousands of people who said this wasn’t possible, but Felix and his team dared to believe it was, and the pursued it.
You may not have such extreme dreams, (if there is such a thing) but I do believe as Walt Disney once said, ‘the proof of the desire is in the pursuit.”
So let’s explore this for a second. In order for Flexi, and the team to achieve this dream, there was a list of requirements set:
Seven Years worth of time, mental preparation, finance investment, planning, testing and all before executing.
As he mentions halfway through this interview, ‘they had a plan and they stuck to it.’ He went on to explain how they had a list of what if’s that when he reached the edge of space, if anything was to pop up that wasn’t in their plan, the jump would be aborted. They thought of everything, from the second the parachute would be released, and had a purpose for every decision made.
This may sound like a lot of work, but it surprises me just how many people fail to set a plan in place, even though I myself have not yet achieved the goals I have set for my own life – This I do know. The more specific you can be, the more likely you are to hit the target. That is what Felix and his team did; and that is why they managed to achieve their desired outcome.
In the interview below, Felix was asked what went through his mind when he reached the top and was about to jump. He said he became humble adding; “Sometimes you have to go up high, to understand how small you really are.”
You don’t even need to go to the edge of space to get this revelation. I got this revelation as I left on my own for New York, for the first time. Although, there is a certain profoundness that is added to such revelation when it comes from a man who’s just jumped 128k from space.
If I do nothing back make you think today, then I’ve done this post justice. I hope you will do something good with this encouragement, and I hope that you can see that if you are a person, ‘who doesn’t see the point in making plans’ then you already did, ‘you made a plan to fail.’
I make mistakes; I fall. I get up, and I make more mistakes again the next day. It’s called life. When people say I live to learn, or I learn to live – they are both true.
Then, one day, I get up and I all those trips to the kirb make me bounce higher than ever before.
This is the day I call success.
This is the day before I do it all over again. The only difference is next time I fall, I’ll fall higher than ever before.
Often I imagine life’s journey like the kid on the trampoline – the deeper the fall, the higher the bounce. What limits us from rising to the top is simply, us. Our mindsets, our insecurities, our lack of fight and determination.
We are not defined by our past circumstances, or even today. We are defined by the thoughts we have, and the decisions (or lack of decisions) we make each day.
Great companies are not built by one man, but by a team of people who share a common thread, or purpose that doesn’t just create value, but also retains it. Little by little; piece by piece; brick by brick; This is how you can rise to the top in any aspect of life.
The key is to consistently provide value with persistence; and with time, grow.
This should be the statement and attitude of all start-up business. Borrowing money, paying for leads, paying to sit and have a coffee with someone may work and be beneficial for some; however, to me this makes no sense at all.
Surely we ‘business owners’ want to be adding value and not subtracting it; and the best way to do this, is to add quality not quantity?
When people take the time to follow a company, a person, or a brand on Twitter, or Facebook, or LinkedIn we must consider such an act to be an honour. This is a good indication that something of what you have to offer is attractive to them, and stirred enough interest in them to connect.
That is what a Follow, or like button is; An invitation sent out on behalf of the page owner to the consumer, to connect.
With connection, comes responsibility – Like in any relationship. However, today I just want to leave you with one thought that its an honour when you have people following you on Facebook, Twitter and so fourth. In the same way it’s an honour when a customer decides to walk into your shop, and buy from you.
Our attitude (that we hold) towards customers, or followers (online or offline) will determine the altitude of our business.
So here’s an interesting debate for you. Could social media be used to change a culture? This was the question, and idea posed by Grant McCracken, in his article ‘Could a Social-Media Tool Increase Kindness.”
In the article Grant uses Boston as his example. Speaking from his own experience, and in his own words:
“I was surprised by how standoffish everyone in my apartment building was. We would see each other twice a day in the elevator, but we’d rarely exchange a word of greeting or acknowledgment. It was so bad, I remember thinking to myself at one point: Maybe this building is in the witness relocation program, and people are afraid they’ll be recognized.”
He went on to say; “Normally, I’d say the situation was beyond our individual or collective control.” And then goes on to explain from there about his findings through a couple of guys who set out to prove him wrong – with social media.
As it turns out, these couple of guys are on the verge of launching a social media tool called Thank Bank, which I believe is a network designed to help people express their appreciation.
There are two points that spring to mind when reading this article:
What makes Thank Bank different from pressing ‘like’ on Facebook? Could a social network specifically for expressing thanks be enough..? And do I really want to sign up to another platform without good reason.
Surely the increase of kindness comes from an individual, or group decision to do something – and not a social media tool. If this were case then, I’d suggest we have much bigger problems at hand…
Personally, I am all for the idea of social media encouraging social good and increasing kindness. Social media is a powerful aid, which I fully support and salute the good work it has already done for individuals, family life, and business. I just believe that we must be careful not to mistake the different between our actions and the assistance of a tool in a world that has become so dependent on such smart technology.
In any case, I also believe that is more than possible to change a culture when a group of people together make a decision. On our own, I would agree with Grant, it is impossible. However, I believe there is power in a few.
To quote Margaret Mead, and American cultural anthropologist:
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Read Grant’s article in full, here. Please let me know what your thoughts are on this by, posting your comments below, or connect with me on Twitter here.
There is no getting away from the fact that time itself has become a restraint on many businesses; and I wouldn’t say this is specific to small businesses, these days, either.
With the internet being one of the few economies actually growing, and everyone scrambling to understand it – It makes complete sense. However; it also makes no sense that there is still a huge gap, and slow to action spirit that leaves many businesses far behind their potential.
So how do we combat this? We combat it, by assessing what we can, and cannot do; and delegate the load through collaboration.
I think some businesses need to assess what their priorities are, and get a second opinion. With the greatest respect, a mother is always going to love her baby regardless, and this is in no way different to a CEO of his, or her own company, or even the head a particular department. As our roles within business, marketing, and indeed life continue to unravel, we must get smarter at assessing the necessities of our day, and be brave enough to take a step of faith at times when conversion rate looks low to begin with…
The video below carries an important message that I encourage you to watch, whether you have seen this before, or not. No matter what your dream is, or whatever stage this finds you. Building a business, or your ideal career; This video reminds us that dreams can take as long as 45 years to come into reality.
I encourage you to watch this again, even if you’ve seen SuBo before. Let these words, and ideas stir you up, whether business is slow, or opportunities seem lost. Keep the dream in front, keep the goal in front, and go after it.
The reality is great dreams require time to build, grow and become a reality. If you are building business with the view of becoming a highly successful business leader tomorrow, then you will only discourage yourself when that doesn’t happen. Instead, have the view that one day this dream will become a reality, and remind yourself each day of the bigger picture as you carry out the goals required to get you there.
“My Success is determined by my daily agenda.” John Maxwell.
