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Make a Buck or Make a Difference?

What do you think about this quote from Tom Brokaw? Is it easier to make a buck than a difference?

I look at this and think “Transactional versus Relational”… and relationships are hard, thus, making a difference is hard. Okay…how about an example.

Here in the south, we have the Publix grocery store chain. They do lots of “little things” right but one of the most visible is that they offer to take your groceries to the car for you. Nah, it’s more than that…they assume they are going to unless you tell them no…and they don’t allow tipping!

So why is that important? Because any one of the millions of grocers in the US will execute a transaction with you, Publix wants to make a difference!

In my business coaching practice, I often talk with business owners and leaders who are too focused on making a buck and they miss the opportunity to make a difference! Frequently this is rooted in a cash flow problem but more often than not, they just aren’t thinking about it. Why should they worry about it? Why should YOU worry about it?

Publix is far from the cheapest option. Their location closest to our house, in fact, two of their locations here are across the street from a WalMart…and yet they are always hoppin’! Why? Because they make a difference!

Spend some time today thinking about how to put your customer first, what that will look like for you, and how you can make a difference in THEIR day! Leave a comment below and let us know how you’re going to do it!

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Making Risky Progress

Is there something you’re not doing because it’s ‘risky’? Let’s talk about that…

We deal with risk every day. Driving a car, or for that matter just riding in a car, is risky! According to the CDC more than 32,000 people are killed and another 2 million are injured every year in car crashes! Okay…so it’s not risk you’re afraid of…

Maybe instead of saying you are avoiding risk, you could say you’re ‘playing it safe’ or ‘pursuing that safe career instead of the risky business or job opportunity with that startup. I say it has NOTHING TO DO WITH SAFETY!

Nope, you’re not looking for safety… you’re looking for predictability!

We’ve misused the word safety for so long, we don’t even realize it anymore. That job is no more safe than driving…in fact, IT’S MORE RISKY! In 2016, almost 20 million people were laid off or fired! 10x more than the number killed in car crashes!

So be honest, stop saying you want safety and acknowledge that you’re just comfortable with the predictable. THEN you can embrace the risk and start the change!

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Keep Moving

How will you know you’ve ‘made it’?

It’s a pretty common question, especially in entrepreneur and business owner circles. So common in fact that we don’t really pay attention to what the question assumes…namely, that there IS such a thing as making it!

Too many business owners, leaders, and high performing individuals assume that the promised land awaits if they just keep their head down and soldier on. Do you feel that way? What if that’s wrong?

In my coaching practice, I’ve had the opportunity to work with several business owners as they were making an exit from their company. All but one of them looked back on their time owning the company with a perspective of failure, or at least missed opportunities. “We never really made the big time” kind of thinking. It’s not until I remind them that they did manage to keep their family fed, clothed, housed, kids through college, employees employed, suppliers supplying…that it finally dawns on them that they’d been “making it” all along.

So instead of seeing today’s trials and challenges as failing, or as Sir Winston says, “Going through hell,” consider it par for the course. These are the things that keep out the weak and give the strong the opportunity to shine!

So yes, if you feel as though you’re going through hell, by all means, keep going. You certainly don’t want to camp out there. But also consider just how bad today’s “hell” is…maybe it’s not so bad after all.

If you are having difficulty seeing the value in the journey or you’re just feeling the weight of ‘failure’, DM me…I can help!

Enjoy the journey.

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Why do you want THEIR life?

So why, exactly, are you comparing yourself and your life to someone else? Do you REALLY want THEIR life?

It’s pretty easy for us to look at someone else’s results and say, “Yeah, I want that!” But that’s only part of the story. You don’t know the in’s and out’s that it took for them to get there. You don’t know what they gave up to have what they have. But most importantly, YOU’RE NOT THEM! What motivated them to reach for this goal may not even be on your radar!

When you compare yourself to others you tend to compare the most negative version of yourself against an idealized version of them. When you do that, of course you’re going to come out on the short end of the stick!

But why are you worried about them in the first place? Why don’t you come up with your own idealized outcome and start working toward that! The great thing about the world we live in today is that you can literally dream up just about anything and make it your reality! Heck, Elon Musk wants to live on Mars… so he’s working on it! Will he achieve it? Who knows…and who cares! If he finds his joy doing his art trying to get to Mars, he’ll be a happy guy.

So what is YOUR Big Hairy Audacious Goal? What’s that one thing that you want more than anything and you’re reluctant to share with anyone else? That’s your BHAG, and if you have a need for comparison, compare yourself today to yourself yesterday and the progress you’ve made toward that BHAG!

Leave a comment, let me know what your BHAG is!