What do you do when you’re faced with a difficult decision? Keep working (or work harder) on the business…or shut it down? Stick with this problem employee…or let them go? Sell the 30-year-old family business…or refinance?
These are just a few of the questions business owners and leaders face every day, and they’re tough! And if this is your first time in the entrepreneurial pool…then can be even tougher.
On today’s installment of 7 Minutes in the Morning, Thom will wrap up the week and talk about how to make difficult decisions!
Did you share your dream with the world yesterday (see yesterday’s podcast)? If you did I have one question for you…is it big enough?
Let’s just say I’ve been coaching and helping people unleash their pent up potential for well over a decade and in that time I’ve learned many truths about coaching and getting the best out of people. Here’s one of them…if you shared your big, hairy, audacious goal with the world yesterday…there’s a VERY GOOD chance that you held back! Yep, I said it…you held back! Here’s why!
Even if you feel like you put it all out on the table…walked through the food court at the mall in your underwear (sorry for that visual but it works!), fearful as you may have been…there’s still more. See even if you laid it all out on the table yesterday for the first time, you’ve had that dream stored up for so long that you’re just not used to talking about it!
And if you did share it all, your dream bucket is exposed to the world, what kind of coach would I be if I didn’t challenge you to stretch!
You’ve already come this far, you’ve exposed your hopes and dreams this much, WHY NOT think bigger! Want to make $1 million? Why not $2 million? 100 new customers, why not 200? Hire a new technician, why not 2?
See, once you’re over the hurdle of sharing at all, it is time to REALLY share what the REAL dream is! So go ahead, update your dreams and BHAG’s in the comments!
Are you living at your full potential? Is your business, your work, and your life as good as it could be? Even if the answer is “almost” then you still have work to do! Read on…
When energy is stored (like in a spring or a battery) and not used it is called POTENTIAL energy…potential because it is not being realized. You have the potential within you and it is stored in the form of a big, hairy, audacious goal…a BHAG…a dream that is so big and crazy that, until today, you have resisted even telling anyone else about it!
Well, today is the day you are going to share your big dream with the world. Here’s why…
Potential does nothing for anyone until it is released…but it can degrade. Over time an unused battery will lose its charge. A spring will be sprung (yep, that’s really what it’s called!) If you don’t begin releasing your potential TODAY you will begin losing it TODAY!
If you’ve been tracking with us all week, you know that Monday I challenged you to refine your BGAG into a clear concise sentence…Well, today is the day to share it with the world and what better place to start than right here!
Within the Thom Rigsby community you have people just like you, similarly situated to you, ready and willing to support YOU! Everybody here has a crazy, non-conformist dream, I just want you to be an UNASHAMED non-conformist!
So go ahead, drop that powerful sentence in the comments and let the rest of the community know what you will pursue and make a reality!
What is the one thing that you keep coming back to, time and time again? It keeps calling to you and you just can’t get it out of your head? Have you ever wondered why that is?
Because you are uniquely gifted, talented and placed to have an abundant life and do work that matters, you are like a puzzle piece, uniquely shaped to fill a given spot in the masterpiece. That means you have at least one matching piece out there somewhere…and it is calling to you! Unless you answer that call and do you part, there will always be a gap, a hole, an unfinished piece! You don’t want that do you?
Someone needs to benefit from your contribution. They need the product you offer, the service you provide, they need to hear what YOU have to say!
But answering that call will lead you into the unknown, the unfamiliar, and therefore will be at least a little bit scary! But hey, what great accomplishment comes without risk!
Indeed, as Emerson said, everything you want is out there and it also wants you. Like two magnets you will be drawn together to create something much greater than either one on your own can produce. Just think what great things you could do if you redirected your focus away from maintaining the status quo and toward success!
Go forth boldly today, with confidence, and pursue that which you desire…it’s trying to find you too!
What are you not trying because you don’t feel qualified or ready?
I love this quote from Bruce Lee because it calls it perfectly…greatness is present in everyone, even the average person, but it requires effort to achieve.
With all the opportunity for distraction available to us…literally in the palm of your hand…we often fall prey to Distraction Over Action. We know that the next task or project is going to be taxing, stressful, or lengthy so we opt for a “quick” distraction. That quick distraction turns into a long one, the BAM…off your game.
One of the best ways I’ve found to defeat DOA is with block scheduling. Schedule a block of time, say 20 minutes, to focus on one task. Turn off all your notifications, don’t check email or answer the phone…just focus. You will be amazed at what you can accomplish in a short period of time.
How do you avoid DOA and get that To Do list knocked out? Leave your best tip in the comments!
I find myself asking this question a lot at networking or other meetings where I’m running into people I know. It’s a pretty common greeting. Do you know what answer I get frequently? “Well, I’ve been pretty busy!” (or some variant of that)
While we’re taking a little break from the daily grind this week at the beach, I wanted to remind you that busy does not equal effective. In fact, it is a terrible measure of how things are going. The hamster is busy, and not moving an inch.
In my live workshop Making Time for Success, one of the key concepts addresses the mistaken idea that time management is about efficiency. The efficient use of time is to get more done is the same amount of time. This is wrong.
What you really want is the more effective use of your time…getting the right things done in the allotted time. This requires some hard decisions!
Right now, how many items are on your to-do list? I want you to take an honest inventory and identify everything on that list that, if you NEVER did them, nothing adverse would happen. You are probably like a lot of people that use a lengthy to-do list as a crutch to help you feel better about not getting anything done…but you’re busy!
I want you to go through your list and pick the five most important things on your list. The items you pick should all take less than a day to complete (if they are bigger than one day, break them down into day-sized chunks).
Now, armed with your next five moves…pick the one item that will have the greatest impact on your life if you do it today. That item is now your priority. Get that done first, then knock out the other four. Then tomorrow…rinse and repeat.
This is the P+4F method at work. You can find a video explaining it in more detail on my website (link in bio). Use it and it will change your life. Keep doing what you’ve been doing…and you’ll keep getting what you already have!
Building a business or expanding your career is hard work…and serious business. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun while you’re doing it! In fact, you SHOULD have fun…it will make it a lot more enjoyable while you’re doing the hard stuff!
Now I’m not saying that if you don’t have a ping-pong table or foosball table you’re doing it wrong. You can have fun without all the toys or games…in fact, it may even be better that way. When you lean on the games to bring the fun, then you’re not really putting in the effort to find the fun in the business.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sr5goKcfG2Q
I really love this quote from Einstein, “Creativity is intelligence having fun.” It really emphasizes that it’s the process we should focus on and not rely on making it to the “finish line” before we get to enjoy ourself.
If you’re not having fun with the work you’re doing, take a quick time out and think about ways you can make it more fun and enjoyable. Can you make a game out of the work, maybe even pull your whole team into the brainstorming process!
How are you making your work fun? Leave a comment below and let us know!
Are you the best at what you do? Are you willing to say so?
I will frequently talk with business owners and leaders and have fantastic products or services but downplay their own effectiveness or impact! Heck, I’m even guilty of this (and my grandmother would be proud!).
The problem is that if you don’t express the confidence you have in your product or service…who will? Exactly nobody!
We think that we’re being humble or avoiding speaking ill of others…but the reality is that people, including your customers, want to know that you are confident in your capabilities! Would you rather want the brain surgeon who was “pretty sure he could do it” or the one that “knows what to do”?
Take a few minutes right now and think about the leader in your market. Do THEY say they’re the best? Then you DEFINITELY should!
Yesterday we talked about boundaries… and I’m also a fan of pushing your limits. So how do you reconcile those? It’s really not as hard as it sounds When you start with personal responsibility!
As an individual, you are only responsible for your decisions and outcomes, then there are modifiers. Parents take on responsibility for their kids, entrepreneurs take on some of the burdens for their employees and customers…but there’s a limit.
About 18 months ago, my adult son died from the effects of alcoholism. In spite of our best efforts, he still made the choices that led to his demise.
You only have responsibility for others to the point of their freewill choice. You can’t make the decision for them, that is where you have to let them beat the weight of their own burden.
Focus on what you can control, make the decisions that are within your purvue, and do everything you can to let the rest go.
It’s easy to talk about your neighbor violating boundaries, but what about you? Today let’s talk about how boundaries help YOU stay focused and in your lane!
Especially as a business owner or leader, it’s super easy to drift…to “expand” the business into new areas where there seems to be a need. But what happens when you do that too early or with faulty research. Suddenly you find yourself in unfamiliar territory and, perhaps worst of all, the original business can fall on hard times due to your lack of attention.
Having and abiding by boundaries lets you focus your time, energy, and attention to create a result!
Establish boundaries early on. Create mechanisms to check yourself when you begin to drift and exercise the discipline to stay inside the lines!
