Abandon Ship?
Abandoning ship is rarely the answer. However, asking yourself the question, ”which of my golden rules am I ignoring?” might make you feel guilty enough to consider it. Disciplines, habits and standard procedures are necessary to become successful – each of those practices is defined by you and the choices you make. At the end of the day, life is for living, so we should make time to live!
Time to review what is and isn’t working for you, what rules are you following or not following and establish the things that are really working well and those that are just noise and need to be thrown overboard. Who knows, maybe it’s time to review everything that is going on because nothing is working well enough, abandon ship and choose a better path for you!
Choices choices choices! So many ***** choices! Which path is right for you, which one is keeping you busy but not putting food on the table? Is this really fulfilling your mojo? Or have you unfortunately strayed into the darkside of having a portfolio career where you have become a champion of multiple part time jobs and sadly none of your activities are getting your full attention?
So many people get caught up in the busyness of doing work but fail to monitor the basics and the golden rules of business. There are so many versions of golden rules, some are relevant to you, others not so much. A client of mine summed up his three simple rules that he has lived by – not necessarily new but very relevant for him:
- People do business with people
- They buy what they can see
- They sell what they can see
People do business with people – we get so caught up in the digital world and all that entails, being seen, shouting about our greatness to anybody that might be listening while potentially forgetting that people buy from people they know, like and trust. Who have you neglected in the last 3 – 6 months – let alone the last 12 months? Get back to the basics of working with and truly understanding the people you have worked with before, those that are plugged into who you are and what you do. I am not advocating some false platitude of a greeting (which can be so transparent) but genuinely reach out and make things happen again.
They buy what they can see – how difficult is it to convert a non-believer into following a religion? I am not casting doubt on religion just asking the question about the challenges involved in becoming a believer in something invisible. Buying a product or service that is intangible and backed up by the line “trust me” or ”I’m really good” – what is the evidence that you, as a buyer, need to see in order to become a believer, a customer? A physical product is so much easier to buy because you can make a judgement (sometimes ill informed), buying a car is generally sold as seen – not so easy with a service, make your product real for the buyer.
They sell what they can see – Selling or promoting hot air is so difficult. Consider a retail situation where the shop assistant has a full stock of products in all sizes, it’s so much easier to sell when the assistant can put their own hands on the relevant shoe in the right size for the customer. Life is simpler when there is a product to hand. In the world of professional services, the offering may be ‘hot air’ i.e. knowledge skill or education but what the customer is buying is a tangible benefit and being able to demonstrate that, makes it easier to sell. If you have confidence and belief in the evidence or proof to back up the offering that will reflect in the approach and conviction of the seller.
These are three golden rules that belong to one businessman – it doesn’t make them gospel or necessarily relevant for you – his business is retail which potentially makes his approach different to yours. Knowing what your golden rules are is the point here, if you are constantly ignoring them, then abandoning ship might be the right thing to do.
Perhaps you have never actually established your own rules of business. DO NOT Google Golden Rules and copy someone else’s, however clever and big a guru they are. What are the golden rules of business and life that work for you? Write them down, stick them up in your office, share them with your family, friends and colleagues alike. Make others hold you accountable to seeing those rules through to fruition, if you don’t have someone ask for help – make it happen, give me a call, who knows what can be achieved or unlocked?