What do You Have?

I'm of the mind that in today's society, people (and my generation in specific) far too often sell ourselves short when it comes to challenging projects. As soon as the first twinge of 'this might fail' hits our gut, we duck. Instead of looking at the reasons it might work, we often focus on all the reasons it won't.

If you can relate to this, I have a question for you to ask yourself; one that's helped me narrow down what it is that I hope to do (and am currently doing, to some extent) to accomplish the goals I have for myself.

So, keeping your project (or your job, or career, or business) in mind, here's the question: What talents, skills, or experience do you have that makes you especially qualified to do whatever you are setting out to do? 

I'd love to discuss what you come up with! Use the sidebar on the right and I'll loop back with you.

Not a Perfect Post

When we are faced with a task in which we have the potential to fail, we often get a funny feeling that settles down near the beltline. That's called fear. And most often, the only thing we really fear is imperfection.

What if it doesn't work?
What if they laugh?
Will anyone like it?
Who will be offended?
What if it's not perfect?

Getting good-enough-to-make-a-difference work to your fans knocks the socks off of being so involved pursuing perfection that we never really deliver our value.

The Problem with Writer's Block

...is that it's not writer's block at all. It's fear. Fear that is keeping us from putting that which we believe into the world. Fear that someone will tell us our writing isn't coherent enough, or point out grammar mistakes, or pick a fight with our stance.

I wrote in an earlier post about serving a specific group of people. We add value as a writer (or a contractor, or a designer, or a gunsmith) when we bring our certain set of talents and our worldview to the group we serve. That's why Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman can both be financial advisors to huge groups of people. Some like Dave, some like Suze, and all have good reasons for having a favorite.

As the innovators, entrepreneurs, leaders, we need to decide who we're going to add value for. We need to determine where our talents/interests/worldview intersects with people we like who have problems that we can solve (and are willing to pay us for our talent).

Don't let writer's block (the fear of failure) get in the way of giving your best. Do your work for your people. And if someone from outside of the group points out a typo, kindly let them know you're elated that all they could find wrong with your writing was a spelling error.

Bad Milk and Selling

If we look at any transaction (an exchange of value such as service, money, goods) we see an underlying factor: trust.

Trust is the core of all of our dealings. I trust that the grocery store won't sell me milk that is two weeks old. If they did, I would have a hard time going back. If they did it twice, I wouldn't go back; they broke the trust.

As you work your job or run your business or make connections, rather than trying to make sales (or get a raise, or be a smooth talker), focus on building trust. The sales will take care of themselves.

When does our Work become an Art?

• When we are brave enough to deliver without knowing if it will work
• When it is touched with a bit of humanness 
• When the object of our work tells the story of who we are
• When some people criticize it
• When others appreciate and come back for more
• When we are excited to get out of bed on Monday (for the most part)
• When we enjoy and others benefit
• When it allows us to make a connection

Are you doing these things today? 

A side note: I enjoy a cup of coffee and a good talk (or email or Skype call) with people who are out to make (or making) a dent. Zip me a message using the form on the right and let's make change happen!

Why I wouldn't last working at Wendy's (and why I hope you wouldn't either)

I heard my stomach bellowing and groaning as it caught wind of the warm meal-in-a-bag that had just been handed through my window. As I rounded the corner toward the exit, I glanced at my receipt, only to find out the drive-through cashier had failed to give me my discount, although I had given her a coupon for a free cup of chili.

Usually, I'm a relatively nice guy. But, my chili? Come on.

I wheeled my pickup around and pulled back up to the window: "Did I forget to give you my coupon? I asked, taking some of the flak for their blunder. The young guy that took my order leans out the window and let's me know that I forgot to tell him I had a coupon. The cashier then explained that she didn't see the coupon come in, and promptly checked her envelope. Whoops. There it was!

A manager entered the scene, evidently to stand and watch which course of action her subordinates deemed best in order to rectify this situation. After a solid ten seconds of standing, I finally piped up and told them that my favorite solution would involve them giving me my coupon back, and me leaving the place, which they agreed to do.

The End.

I don't say all of this to bad-mouth Wendy's. My chili was still good. My fries were hot. My Frosty was sweet. But the experience of getting blamed for a company's mistake after I gave them my money is one that rubs most of us the wrong way.

Luckily, it is experiences like this that make us realize how low the customer service bar has been set by the industrial age, and more importantly, how much better (and more fulfilling) it is to make a connection.

If you work at Wendy's, I hope you try to give away the farm if you goof up an order. Giving away too much might get you fired. But showing that you care might get people talking about you in a good way.

Denting the Universe

The value of your project (or your performance at work, or your business) will always be in proportion to your investment.

Seems elementary? Consider this: If a guy wants to be a mechanic, he needs the tools, the garage, the know-how, and someone needs to be his customer. However, if this same guy's goal is to be the best mechanic in his town, his investment into all of the things listed above needs to be much greater.

Still simple.

The problem for many of us is, although we're accepting of this basic proposition, we get lost in production and miss the opportunity to invest.

It all depends on how big you want your dent in the universe to be. If you're okay with being a mechanic, that's your call. But if you want to be a game-changer, you're going to have to do the work no other mechanic is doing.

Want to talk about your dent? Let's get coffee! I'm always up for a good visit.. And coffee.

Excuse Me, I'm Afraid

We all have our nicely polished stash of excuses that we tend to wield wildly when confronted with the fact that we haven't made steps toward our goals (even the goal of having goals).

Too busy.
Too slow.
Too committed.
Too much of this.
Too little of that.
Too expensive.
Too unprepared.
Too far.
Too fast.

The one excuse that we need to bring to light is the root of all of the others: Too scared.

I will echo what Seth Godin says: Write down the things you fear about taking the next step toward your goal. Once it's written down, burn the paper and go do the work.

When we acknowledge the opposition, we've taken the first step toward overcoming it.

Getting Out of Bed

As a continuation of Saturday's post, I'll dive a little deeper into the discussion on passion.

Passion is a well-worn subject on business blogs, and I know you could find plenty of great insight on it if you poked around online.

I would add one thing to what many others have written: Often, a freelancer's passion is what they specialize in (I.e. Interior design, photography, painting). The actual work is what they love. Often, the business end of the venture suffers because it's easy to get lost in doing the work they enjoy. If there is a balance (or if the freelancer hires people to run the business end), the work of creating art can be fully enjoyed.

On the other hand, the entrepreneur typically has a passion for something outside of the product. Tony Hsieh from Zappos loves customer service. He built a billion dollar company around the art of providing knock-your-socks-off service in an industry that lacked just that. Tony's passion for treating people well gets him out of bed in the morning.

What gets you out of bed? Today, write down the thing(s) about your work that make your work worth doing. Then grow that (although, maybe not to the same extent) like Tony did.

Freelancer or Entrepreneur?

Yesterday, I got a call from a gentleman who is considering starting a business. We batted some lingo back and forth, covered some different business ideas, and tried to define his passion (more on that tomorrow). 

After our half-hour phone call, I started crafting a list of questions to send over to him to narrow down what he's really after. One of the questions was to make the decision of who he wants to be: an entrepreneur or a freelancer?

If you're in (or going into) business, this distinction should be made early on. If not today, certainly by tomorrow.

By definition, a freelancer is someone who works for different companies at different times, rather an being permanently employed by one company. In other words, I, the freelancer will provide the customer with a certain service or product, in exchange for a dollar amount we agree on. Freelancers are often designers, artists, musicians, contractors, etc.

An entrepreneur, on the other hand, builds a business bigger than himself. His business turns a profit while he's sleeping, or in Cancun, or bicycling. In the early stages of business, the entrepreneur acts as a freelancer. He does the sales, the accounting, the production, the marketing, the warranty work, the forecasting.. Everything there is to do in a small business. Where he becomes an entrepreneur is when he hires people who can do all of these jobs better than he can. This frees him up to work on the business, not just in the business (or to hang out at the beach with his family).

There's no right or wrong answer, but there needs to be an answer. Too often, start-ups fail because someone who thinks she's an entrepreneur works her head off trying to make the business make enough money so she can finally get away. Upon her return, she is dismayed to find out that her employees unknowingly sabotaged her operation, because no one knew how to do everything she knew how to do.

On the flip side, a freelancer has less to lose. If he doesn't show up to consult his client's HR department, he doesn't get paid. If his client's website doesn't get finished, he has no one to blame but himself. If he does show up to consult, he gets paid. It's a much simpler way to do business, but for some, it doesn't give them the freedom they're looking for.

Take a look at where you're at (or where you'd like to be), and make that distinction. It can change the course of your business's growth, and consequently, your life.

If you want me to guide you through this definition process, zip me an email using the form on the right!

Is this for You?

If you have an idea that you don't talk about to anyone for fear that they'll make it happen before you do, this blog is for you.

If you have an idea for a service or product you think would sell, but you don't have the time or money to make it, this blog is for you.

If you lay awake at night trying to solve problems you face at work, this blog is for you.

If you are a fast-draw with excuses as to why you don't do the hard work you know you should do, this blog is for you.

If you want to be your own boss but don't know how (or what or where or when) to get there, also for you.

If you are (or wish to become) one who leads the change you want to see in your world, this is definitely for you.

Welcome!

Sometimes, Secrets do make Friends

I want to tell you a little secret: I don't have it all planned out.

I don't have a perfected project to launch, I don't have a prototype ready for production, and I don't have a notepad filled with dated, achievable goals for this blog. Yet.

But I want to narrow down what it is I plan to do here:

• Find and connect with people who want to change things at their job or in business, but don't have direction (or, more likely, don't have the courage to overcome the fear)
• Build and lead a community of people who are willing to stand up and set themselves apart from the status quo
• Not only start, but finish projects, and help others do the same

If working your day job, and climbing to corporate, and getting a grade, and being content with average is you thing, you're not going to get much here. But I hope you will consider the Dave Ramsey quote that has inspired millions to achieve their goals: "If you will live like no one else, you can live like no one else."

If you don't fit the earlier description, and you are looking for a way out of average, welcome to the club.

Tomorrow, I'll go a little deeper to describe the person I'm working to provide value for. I hope it's you.

The Challenge of Starting

My cohort Marshall and I do a fair shake of business discussion, with long email threads titled 'Business Banter' and stuff. The problem is, we're stuck. Stuck talking, not working.

To sabotage that viscous cycle, we've challenged each other to write one blog post per day for one week, starting today.

We have differing end goals, but we are both sold on the idea of making our dent in the universe by taking the tortoise approach: a steady, reliable message. Like Seth Godin says, "Stand up and say, 'This is who I am, look what I'm making'".

Ultimately, this challenge is a step toward overcoming fear of failure. Blog posts are a very inexpensive way to fail, and a phenomenal way to reach people whose worldview resonates with mine. And if I can be the one to light the fire, to help solve the problems, to lead the way to successful entrepreneurship, I've started making my dent.

We'll continue our blogging beyond a week from today, but we needed somewhere to start. Call it a baby step, sure. But baby steps are better than the paralysis caused by fear of failing. 

Tomorrow we'll take a closer look at my goal with the blog.

Until then, try staring down the fear of failure and do work worth doing.