A Youtuber was complaining
about how all the plants
in her garden were dying
or doing poorly.
I saw immediately,
from the video,
what her issue was.
But she didn’t once
ask for help.
She complained
but she didn’t seem to want
or welcome
any advice.
So I kept my advice
to myself.
If you have a problem
or a challenge,
ASK for help.
Then…
appreciate that help,
even if you don’t plan
to take the advice.
That increases the probability
that person will help you
again.
We all know the phrase
“Feed the strong.”
99% of the time,
it makes financial sense
to pour the majority of our resources
into promoting, selling
and supporting the strongest products/services
we offer.
And it makes financial sense
to starve our weakest products/services.
But does it make sense
to remove those weak products/services?
Usually, it does.
Those weak products/services
add complexity.
They require listings
and customer service
and maintenance
and storage
and other resources.
It only make senses
to keep them
if they serve
the better selling products/services
in some way.
Consider delisting
weak products/services.
There’s a debate
amongst scientists
about whether or not
they should tell people
the doomtastic truth
regarding what is happening
and what will soon happen.
I want the truth.
If I wanted to hear
placating lies,
I’d talk to a politician.
I reach out to experts
because I want to hear
their informed and honest opinions.
Especially since I plan
to verify those opinions
with my own observations.
We know the climate
and healthcare
and other areas are f*cked.
We have eyes and ears.
We can see that.
Don’t patronize us
with lies.
Tell us the truth.
In today’s world,
enough seems to be a dirty word.
We’re always supposed
to want more.
More money.
More customers.
More projects.
More. More. More.
Having enough,
however,
is a powerful place to be.
It gives us choices.
If we have enough startup funds,
for example,
we can build our businesses
the way WE wish to build them.
If we have enough experience,
we become an extremely valuable
and sought after addition
to teams and projects.
If we have enough projects,
we can stop evaluating new ones
and focus on the projects we already have.
That increases the odds
they will be successful.
Figure out what enough
looks like for you.
When you reach enough,
change your focus.
Having enough is powerful.
Harness that power.
We installed solar
in our home.
Which means…
electricity
i.e. power
no longer
has any additional cost.
Our resources, our access
have greatly
expanded.
And I’m thinking of
all the opportunities that come
with that.
I can install more grow stations
for my vegetables,
as one small example.
I can run more business devices
(like multiple screens).
More systems can be automated.
When your resources expand,
your opportunities expand.
Re-evaluate your possibilities.
Yesterday, I shared
that I review past accomplishments
to increase my energy and confidence levels
before tackling a new project.
You might be thinking
you don’t have any accomplishments.
Of course,
you have accomplishments.
You have survived up until this moment,
haven’t you?
Heck, you are surviving
a f*ckin’ pandemic!
And you have other accomplishments.
If you’re reading this post,
you can read.
Not everyone has tackled that skill.
You can source
food and water and other things
necessary for living.
I could give you a list
a hundred posts long
of your accomplishments.
But I shouldn’t have to
craft this list for you.
YOU should craft it.
And you should add
to this accomplishment list
after you accomplish something new.
You have accomplishments.
If you are questioning this,
the accomplishment you’re lacking
is tracking your accomplishments.
Maintain a list
of all your accomplishments.
I spent a couple days
rereading some of the stories
I’ve written.
They’re good.
That’s why they were published.
Rereading them reassured me
that I could write
another good story.
They powered me up
to start that story.
If your a$$ is dragging,
consider taking a few moments
or a few days
to review some of your past accomplishments,
your past wins.
That might be
the energy and confident boost
you need.
It is wildfire season
in my part of the world.
We didn’t have
wildfire ‘seasons’
20 years ago.
There were rare wildfires
but definitely no season of them.
That has changed.
Wildfires are
no longer rare
anywhere on the planet.
As business builders,
we should plan for them.
We should upgrade
ventilation systems
in our stores, our offices,
our homes
to deal with the smoke.
We should have a plan
for our businesses, our homes,
our employees, ourselves
if we have to evacuate
in a hurry.
We should have masks
and other gear
for employees working outside
(this includes delivery people).
Wildfire ‘seasons’ are here
to stay.
Plan for them.
There is a big push
right now
to ‘put women back in their place’
and that place
seems to be in the home,
under complete control of men,
having babies
and following orders.
One of the arguments
for this movement
is…
birth rates are down.
We’re running out of people.
Which is complete
bullsh*t.
Birth rates might be down
in little pockets of the world.
But we are NOT running out of humans.
We are averaging
401,300 births a day
and
158,686 deaths a day
on a planet
with limits,
limits we’ve surpassed.
We have WAY too many humans
(which is why, I suspect,
our leaders are doing nothing
to stop the multiple pandemics
happening right now).
If you have a choice
between having kids
and building a business,
choose the option
that brings you the most happiness.
For me,
that is and always will be
building a business.
I am child free
and super happy to be child free.
I am also, ironically,
often surrounded by children
and I’m happy for that also.
Make the decision
that is right for you.
I often use
the past to help predict
the future.
I’ll look at past sales
for vampire romances, for example,
to help predict
how many sales
my vampire romance
might have.
In the past,
this prediction
was dang close.
Today?
It could be
business-flatteningly off.
The world has changed
significantly.
In the book world,
AI and COVID
has shifted the baselines.
But we are also in a new era
for climate
and pandemics
and politics
and almost everything else.
Being VERY cautious
when using the past
to predict the future.