How big do you want your business to become?
That is one of the first questions that I like to ask people.
After listening, I then inquire about what they want to accomplish by growing to that level.
Some people don’t have a reason for why they want to grow.
They simply want to grow for the sake of growing.
I wonder if they are caught up in keeping up with the Joneses mentality.
When people have a keeping up with the Joneses mentality, they are more concerned with copycatting their peers.
You’ve seen this before.
Your neighbors buy a new car.
They have a bright shiny grin on their face.
Next week you find yourself driving into the new car dealer looking at the latest zippy car.
Then after an eight-hour marathon of haggling and negotiating, you find yourself in “A Brand New Car!”
Two weeks ago, you were completely content with your car.
It was still under warranty.
You never had any troubles with it.
Except for your neighbor Mr. Jones got a new car.
And then suddenly you “needed” a new car.
The smartphone manufacturers use this keeping up with the Joneses mentality.
Every year there is a new model of phone that has one new feature.
It only has to have one new feature to be the newest, shiniest object in the world.
Then we run like a bunch of lemmings to get that new smartphone.
After all, I can’t be bothered with using my thumbprint to unlock my smartphone.
That’s way too much work.
I need that new fancy-schmancy facial recognition.
That smartphone is my soulmate, and I need it to looks me deep in the eyes and recognizes that I am it’s one and only true love.
A few years ago, I was working with a business coach, and he had grand plans for me.
He wanted me to triple my business in one year.
He convinced me that I had what it took to grow that quickly.
I was somewhat skeptical, yet I concluded that it made sense to have faith in this business coach.
After all, I was paying him for his advice.
If I wasn’t willing to listen to his advice, it didn’t make much sense to keep paying him.
While I did grow, I remember one event that still bothers me to this day.
I was working through a challenge and had hit a temporary wall.
I didn’t know how to navigate around that wall.
As I explained the frustration of my situation to him and my thinking process, he commented to me.
“Damon, you need to get past this because if you don’t, you are putting my reputation at risk.”
I was taken aback by his comment.
I had paid a king’s ransom for his services.
He was more concerned with his reputation then what was in my best interest.
He wanted to drive my business to be a shining example of what he could do as a business coach.
The reason why I bring up this example is each of us needs to recognize what is most important for ourselves.
Some people want to grow their businesses so they can be fabulously wealthy.
Some people want to grow a business that provides for a comfortable lifestyle.
Some people want to make a lot of money so they can give a lot of money away.
There are so many reasons to grow a business.
The most important reason to grow a business is your reason to grow the business.
Don’t fall into the trap of someone else’s ambitions or goals.
You will never achieve your potential by living off someone else’s motivational spark.
You must live off of your motivational spark.
Sure, you can borrow someone else’s spark to ignite your spark.
But ultimately, you have to fuel that spark with your purpose.
When you are in harmony with what drives you, fueling your growth becomes one hundred times easier and more effective.
Don’t fall into the trap of trying to figure out your passion before you get started.
You’ll be better off getting started and learning along the way.
Every evening as I sit down to dinner, I face the same dilemma.
My seven-year-old son Levi is a picky eater.
“Just try it,” I say to my son.
His face is all scrunched up like a prune.
He tenses up and becomes rigid at the thought of putting his mouth through something undesirable.
I can’t say I blame him.
I was a picky eater once myself.
Maybe I still am.
Yet, I’ve tried a bunch of different foods and found some that I liked and some that I don’t like.
I didn’t like broccoli when I was a child.
Now it is one of my favorite foods.
Our taste in food changes as we evolve in life.
So what we do for work and why we do that work changes as we travel through this life.
We learn where we have talents.
We learn what we enjoy.
We learn where we struggle.
We learn where we can make a difference.
Five years ago, I was doing different work than I do now.
I’m still proud of the work I did five years ago.
Yet, I’ve grown and recognized that there is more important work for me to accomplish.
Five years ago, I wasn’t the person I am now.
Five years ago, I didn’t have some of the skills I have now.
Five years ago, my priorities were different than they are now.
I’ve learned over time that I make changes in my life and business when I’m ready to make those changes.
Growing for the sake of growing is a fool’s errand.
Unless my reasons for growth fuel the growth, I am letting someone else drive my life.
My life is too short for me to allow someone else to be in control of this precious gift of my life.
Before I end this article, I wanted to ask you if you’re looking to grow your business profits and having more cash in the bank, send me an email at damon@idealmoneylife.com with “PROFIT” in the subject line… tell me a little about your business and what you’d like to work on together, and I’ll get you all the details!
Recent Comments