Sweat Equity

Have you ever noticed how you can barely get through 8 hours in the office but then rush home to work in the yard, or the shop, or where ever your joy is…and it doesn’t matter how tired or dirty you get? Why is that?

Well, the short answer is that your ‘day job’ doesn’t matter and your joy-filled emotional labor does!

No one ever promised that the work that brings you joy and fulfillment would be easy. That’s a pretty common misconception I hear a lot as a business coach. “Thom, why isn’t this working like it did for {fill in internet guru’s name here}. They said it would be easy!?!” or my favorite, “I thought this was my passion…I guess not.”

The reality is that you have to put in the work! Just like working the jigsaw puzzle. There is a great work of art trapped in the individual pieces and when YOU put in the work to assemble them in the right order, you get to enjoy it. If you choose to not put in the work, then, well, you have a pile of crap on the table.

Take some hints from what you do with your free time. Where do YOU find your joy? What type of work? Let me know down in the comments! Somewhere in there is your #WorkThatMatters!

Work That Matters Will Elevate Everyone

Are you creating value today?

A lot of times when I ask people this question they talk about how hard it is to create value. But in reality, when you work in your gifts and leveraging your talents, creating value will be easy! Why?

Because that’s why you have the talents and gifts you have…to create value for other people! I’m not saying the work will be easy, but the along the way you will find that creating value for other people also does something for you, it will challenge you, push you, to be better!

This is why work that matters, the work YOU were uniquely equipped to perform, will elevate everyone it touches, you and those around you! Just like the jigsaw puzzle piece, you are meant to play a role in the lives around you AND in the complete picture!

Your Unique Work That Matters

What are you doing today?

You are a unique person filled with special talents and gifts, the specific combination of which is unique to you. Do you believe that? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Sometimes we can get so wrapped up in ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ or getting our life in order that we forget to do the things that make us happy.

But it’s not just any old thing. This unique combination of skills and talents belong to us for a reason. Think about it like a jigsaw puzzle. The pieces are all unique and fit together to create a piece of art. If one piece is missing, the puzzle is incomplete. If you are missing, our puzzle is incomplete!

Do the work you were made to do and great things will begin to happen!

I’d like to hear what you think. Share your unique gifts and talents in the comments!

The Starting Point of All Achievement…

Be So Good They Can’t Ignore You!

Have you ever been ghosted? You know…ignored!? Today we’re talking about the one guaranteed way to prevent being ignored! Stay tuned!

“Be so good they can’t ignore you!” -Steve Martin

I love this quote from Steve Martin! So simple and yet so true! And it may be tipping you off to today’s topic.

The single best way to ensure you are not ignored is to be great at what you do. Be so great that they can’t ignore you (as Steve says). I’ve been saying for years that, “Results trump everything else,” and it’s true, well, mostly true. I mean, you can’t burn the building down or anything…but short of something like that, results matter!

But Thom, you don’t understand…I have a (mean boss, ridiculous quota, disliked product line, etc, etc…) to which I will reply… “Yeah, and?” Look, everybody has tough circumstances sometimes. Everybody has to deal with crap assignments, bad bosses…deal with it! Over-deliver anyway!

Tell me what you think. Drop a comment below and let me know if you’ve every experienced what can happen when you over-deliver!

The Right People Will Come

Have you ever thrown a party and worried that nobody would show up? Maybe it’s not a party but a grand opening or new product launch…you put everything you have into getting people to come out and being prepared….

Sometimes just the anxiety over whether anyone will show or not can be crushing! Especially if you REALLY need this to go well! What does it say about your business or you as a person if nobody shows? Well, here’s a thought…

I really do believe this sentiment with all my heart. Every time I host and event or promote a product, I get anxious about how many, if any, will show up. And then I remember this quote from Will and I’m reminded not to pay attention to the people that don’t show. Instead, I choose to see it as thinning out the crowd to only those that needed to be there…and I give them the very best I’ve got!

What about you? Do you find yourself worrying about results? Watching that LIKE count? Comparing follower counts with the other businesses and people serving your market?

Let me suggest that, just for today, you ignore all that. Just ignore it. You can go back to it tomorrow if you feel like you really need to. But for today, you’re just going to ignore it and put the very best you’ve got out into the world. Let’s try that today and see what happens!

PS – Leave a comment below or tag me on all the greatness you produce today. We’d love to see it!

A Life Worthwhile

What makes a life worthwhile? Well, if you believe Albert, it has something to do with living (working?) for others. Me? I think he was on to something. Read on and join in the conversation below.

I’ve shared my baseline belief statement many times, but, on the off chance that this is your first visit…welcome…and here it is again…

I believe we are each uniquely gifted, talented, and placed to do work that matters.

– Thom Rigsby

When I share that with people a common question I get is, “What do you mean by ‘work that matters?'” Wow! You were thinking that too? Huh…well, okay, let’s take a look at what makes work matter! I use a three part test for determining if your work matters.

First, does the work energize you?

Second, does the work challenge you?

Third, does the work align with your goals and values?

And finally, does it create opportunity and/or value for you and other people? And THIS is why we’re here today. We tend to be pretty good at seeking and creating value for ourself, buy how are you when it comes to creating value for other people? This is the crux of Albert’s statement, that a worthwhile life is on spent helping and creating value for others. When you focus and do that well, you will find joy and fulfillment beyond measure!

Take a minute right now and consider these questions about the work you do every day… about the work you are getting ready to do THIS day. Does it energize and challenge you? Does it align with your goals and values? Does it create value for you and others?

If you answered no to any of these questions, it’s time to reconsider the work you’re doing and begin pursuing better alignment with your purpose in life. At the time it was one of the toughest realizations I’d made in my life…and an equally difficult decision to take back the reins of my life. If you haven’t read my story, I’d encourage you to do so, here’s the link that answers the question Who Is Thom Rigsby.

What It Takes to Succeed In Business

I love this quote from Sir Richard but it always leaves me with a question.

How do you balance what the customer wants with what you want to give the customer?

Most small business owner get into the business because they possess some skill or ability they would like to monetize…without regard many times to the size or population of the market! When I speak with these people in my coaching practice, I see great frustration in their eyes as they are determined to “help” their market with their product.

People don’t by your ___ because they don’t want it!

This is a really hard truth to hear for many owners but a necessary one. As soon as they can recognize that the customer is the one that gets to determine what’s valuable, we go to work trying to figure out WHY the customer doesn’t want what they are offering.

So, how do you do it? How to you balance what the customer wants against what you or you business want to give them? Leave a comment below and let us know!

Thom

PS: Be sure to check back everyday for a brand new Quote of the Day and listen to the podcast 5 days at week at www.7minutesInTheMorning.com

Agree or Disagree #2

Thom Rigsby Work-Life Balance

Well, here we go, installment number two in the Agree or Disagree series. Today’s topic should be a doosie!

Agree or Disagree #2
Work-Life Balance is a myth.

For all the time and effort that has gone into finding work-life balance, you’d think someone would have found it by now! Kind of like Bigfoot, right?! Well, here’s the thing…lots of people HAVE found it, they just call it something different…LIFE.

Yep, that’s right…it’s just life. Now don’t get me wrong…work will be a big part of your life, but that’s what it is, a PART of your LIFE. There’s family, friends, hobbies, sports…all the other things that make us well-rounded, happy, and healthy folks.

So rather than trying to find a way to keep them separate and balanced, I say we should find ways to make them work to mutually benefit one another, you know, like finding a job on the beach (or better yet, starting a business on the beach)…something that combines your work and your life to create the lifestyle of your dreams!

Do you believe work-life balance is possible or is it just a myth?

Agree or Disagree #1

If we’ve ever had the opportunity to talk about such things, you may have heard me say that one of our greatest losses in my lifetime has been our ability to disagree with one another. Get three people together and you’re guaranteed to find SOMETHING that someone disagrees with…and at some point it’s going to come up!

We have no hope of reaching our fullest potential as a society and as individuals unless we re-learn how to express our ideas and beliefs with one another, talking about our differences, and committing ourselves to growth!

So, with that as an objective, I’m starting an irregular series of posts called Agree or Disagree. In these posts I intend to publish thoughtful dichotomies that we can explore critically and, hopefully, grow as we discuss.

So, without further ado…here goes number one…

Agree or Disagree #1:
What you THINK doesn’t matter, what you DO matters.

As the old saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. In my coaching practice, I frequently talk to business owners or high-level employees who have been thinking about doing something and now they find themselves stuck. In all these cases, what you think has no impact on the outcome, what you do creates results. Do you agree or disagree?