The price of change

I'm not going to start a lengthy discussion about change. It's upon us, it's scary, and we have to deal with it.

But to deal with it effectively, I believe we have to know the price we have to pay to experience the benefits that change can bring.

Here's my paraphrase of an Einstein quote:

The same thinking that got us into this mess can't get us out of it.

That's a scary thought. It means we have to change the way we think. Which means we have to change our philosophy. Not a simple task.

I've been in the middle of change for quite a while now. The company that I worked for previously went belly-up, so I decided to start my own business. I'm still starting that business and it's been a difficult road. I often don't know what to do. But I do know this. I have to shift my philosophy from the way I used to think to a new way of thinking. 

Here's an example. Sales. Ugh, what a horrible word. It conjures up all kinds of unpleasant images that make us feel icky. Yes, I just said icky. 

The reason it makes us feel that way is that we're thinking how sales has been done in the past. Not the distant past, more so the recent past - like the last 50 years. 

Let me explain. Sales used to be a demonstration of communication, trust, authenticity, and honor. Sales were made by shaking hands. Commitments were honored because our word had been given. Now I know this is somewhat idealized - I know there were shysters and everything wasn't Mayberry perfect. But there was more honor then than what followed.

And then TV came along. The relationships were gone. Now we had to coerce, and persuade, manipulate and cajole, use scarcity, and tactics and suddenly there were hundreds of books being written about how to "DO" sales.

How in the world did people sell before all these books were written? I'm sure they did, but it was most likely a fluke of nature. 

Wasn't it?

Or maybe salespeople back then used to have character. Maybe they knew how to build relationships. Maybe they were okay with being authentic and honest. Maybe they didn't over-complicate things.

And maybe that's what we should go back to. Maybe part of the price of change is giving up our reliance on tactics and going back to providing real authenticity - if even we think it makes us look bad. 

It's a shocking idea but that's the challenge I'm issuing to myself. Be authentic or go work in a factory making widgets. Those are really the only options. And because the second option makes me ill, I'm gonna stick with the first one.

Monday

Monday. It might as well be a four-letter word as much as it is reviled and talked about with such venom.

But why?

Well for most people it means they have to go back to the J-O-B, the grind, and the 9-to-5. It implies they have to stop doing what they like (whatever they do on the weekend) and start doing something they don't like.

This sad state of affairs really stinks. But obviously since we live in Communist China we have no hope. Every one of us was informed by a state official long ago of what we would be doing for our livelihoods and we had zero say in the matter.

And because of this, burly men toting guns come to our houses every morning and force us at gunpoint to march grimly to our daily doom as we sip our bland cups of Totalitarian Toffee Nut flavored coffee.

And of course once we're chained to our desks, we're then compelled to actually work by our sadistic, electric cattle prod wielding bosses that expect us to produce results - or else...

It's terrible, I know.

Except this isn't your reality, nor mine. We don't live in China so we don't have to act like we do. We have something called the "freedom to choose". In fact, we have the responsibility to choose.

So if this is the case, why do so many people choose poorly? And why are so many people miserable when Monday rolls around?

Last I checked this isn't a dress rehearsal. This is for realz. If you're upset every Monday morning maybe you should do something about it. For realz.

It's your life to waste.

But I would encourage you not to. We need what you've got - whether you realize that yet or not.

Your WHAT is busted?!

In addition to being the Architect of Wow!, I also like to consider myself as a Give-A-Damn repairman (totally different from the Maytag repairman by the way...). I realize that's blunt and somewhat crass, but to be honest too many peoples' Give-A-Damn be broke!

Well actually that's not totally true. Their Give-A-Damn is working at 50% of it's capacity - but it's the wrong 50%. It's only functioning toward what they want, not for what anyone else wants.

Harry Beckwith wrote a really good book entitled: What Clients Love. In that book he made an interesting distinction between vision and mission. He said that your vision is selfish. It's what you want to accomplish for yourself. Not a bad thing of course, but it's not all about you...

Your mission, on the other hand, pertains to the broader societal impact you want to have. Your legacy, your contribution, the demonstration of your selflessness.

In other words, your Give-A-Damn only works at 100% capacity when you have both your vision AND your mission in place.

By all means, you need to know what you're personal aspirations are.  But that doesn't mean you can forgo helping others get what they aspire as well.

(Although ironically, once you focus your Give-A-Damn on helping others achieve their visions, yours seems to manifest all on its own.)

Take a long, hard look at your Give-A-Damn - does it need an overhaul?

The value of your values

Knowing what you value is a good thing to know all the time... But even more so when it comes time to make a decision.

Some decisions are easy forks in the road, while others cause us to stand and ponder. Not a bad thing that pondering, but determining your values beforehand can reduce the time it takes...

Here are some of my values that I communicate to my clients:

Philosophy is everything, so come up with a good one

The way you think determines everything. What you believe shows up everywhere. I believe the quality of your philosophy determines the quality of your business and your life.

Relationships first, money second

People are more important than money. I believe building relationships is at the core of every successful business and those should always be prioritized over money.

Do what you do on purpose and with purpose

We could have done anything in life but we all chose the path that we're on. Since we did, I believe we should honor those choices by creating a clear and strong vision and mission. Do what you do well.

Take yourself seriously, but not too seriously

Life is short and can be difficult. Despite that, I believe those that find more opportunity and have more fun in life are those that laugh easily and don't get too big for their britches.

We're all one-hit wonders

The reports are in and they show a 100% fatality rate. Since we only get one shot at this thing, I believe we should remember what is really important and not get caught thinking short-term. Building a business is good, but building a legacy and an honorable reputation is better.