Season 7 – epiBLOG 10:
Happy Early 4th of July! I hope you’re having a wonderful summer in business and in life! Summertime is awesome! Everything from beautiful weather to delicious barbecue! There’s nothing to complain about.
Summertime is often filled with amazing vacations and excited energy all around. This is great. I encourage you to spend time with family and friends. Community is good for the soul.
Nevertheless, I started thinking about how we often get this same type of excited energy when we start a business or some new endeavor. We’re hopeful that everything will go exactly how we’ve envisioned it, which of course, never happens. What happens is… life. And that’s okay. Because we learn from unexpected events. Not every vacation has to be perfect for it to be appreciated and enjoyed; likewise, not every business is going to be perfect in order for it to be a success.
Today’s topic is to hope for the best, expect nothing, but plan for anything that you’re able to when you start your business.
I know I have a lot of explaining to do with this topic.
When I say “hope for the best,” you should start your business and run your business with a belief in yourself and your abilities. This doesn’t mean that an occasional doubt won’t slip in. You’re human. You’re allowed to doubt. This also doesn’t mean to just have a positive attitude and everything is just going to work out for you. I’m not saying any of that. Positivity without research, planning, and real action won’t necessarily lead to your success. More than likely, by itself, it will not. If you’ve done your homework on the industry that you’re seeking to thrive in and you’ve discovered a need that is missing in the marketplace, be hopeful that your skills, talents, and abilities will be the answer to that need.
“Expect nothing.” I know that sounds very negative, but it truly isn’t. I listened to the audiobook Unfu*k Yourself: Get out of your head and into your life by Gary John Bishop. Amazing book! There’s a chapter where Bishop discusses “hidden expectations” that we all have that end up stopping us from actually dealing with the reality in our lives. In other words, oftentimes are mindset is stuck on how we feel life should be instead of actually working with the way life really is. For example, imagine meeting with a new potential client for the very first time. It’s a potential $20,000 deal on the table. You’re building rapport. You’re listening for their needs. You’re connecting with them by establishing similarities in your lives. Showing them the value that your product and/or service can provide them. In the back of your mind, you’re wanting them to say yes to you, but you’re still being respectful of the time that it takes to develop a genuine connection and a foundation for your relationship. You meet with them a second time. A third time. Still… no closed deal. Finally, you meet a fourth time, and you have the expectation that they will buy your product (or service), but they don’t. They tell you that they just don’t have the money at this time or that they changed their minds. What do you do?
- Accept their decision and move on?
- Pretend to accept their decision and be pissed off?
- Accept their decision, keep in contact with them, and then move on?
The ideal answer is #3. Sincerity goes a long way, but that’s another blog post altogether. However, for the sake of this example, answer #2 is where there are hidden expectations that can potentially destroy you as a business owner. You can’t make someone have money or do something that they don’t want to do. Spending your time festering about having spent so much time with a potential client that didn’t end up following through is a waste of your energy. You could be putting that same energy into building a relationship with that person and building a relationship with another new client. Just because someone doesn’t buy now, doesn’t mean that they will never buy from you. Business relationship building should be sincere without hidden expectations. Eliminate hidden expectations as you notice them operating in your life.
Finally, the last part of today’s topic is that you want to “plan” as much as you can in business. Don’t let planning be an excuse to not take action. There are many people who do that. Instead, after doing your research, create a viable plan A, B, and C until you find a solution that works for you and your business. Plans don’t always unfold the way you expect, but it’s always better to have something in place that you can adjust from instead of having nothing at all to work with.
Today’s LESSON is to believe in yourself, accept what is, and to prepare as much as humanly possible.
FUN ASSIGNMENT: For your next big endeavor within your business, create a Plan A, B, and C, and put them into action as needed.
Nitara Osbourne owns The Infinite Writer Agency, LLC, which provides content to producers, publishers, entrepreneurs, and sales people seeking help with developing their life stories into nonfiction books and movie scripts. Editing services are provided for clients as well. If you’re an accomplished sales or business professional, and are looking to tell your story, contact The Infinite Writer Agency, LLC. InfiniteWriterAgency@gmail.com.
Resource:
Bishop, Gary J. Unfu*k Yourself: Get out of your head and into your life. Harper Collins
Publishers, Audible, 2016. Audiobook.
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