New Business Development – Page 30

Climate Change And Cotton

Have you noticed
100% cotton t-shirts
don’t last as long
as they did
10 or 20 years ago?

There’s a reason
for that
– climate change.

Cotton is made from plants
and plants have been stressed
from high heats and droughts.

Stressed plants
fall apart more easily.

If your business
is in the fashion industry,
this will impact you.

If you buy t-shirts
as promotional giveaways,
this will impact you.

Heck, if you WEAR clothing,
this will impact you.

And if climate change
is impacting the quality of cotton,
we should be asking ourselves,
“What else is it impacting?”

Box Sh*t Up

Today is Boxing Day
in many parts of the world.

Boxing Day was historically
a day to box sh*t up
(leftovers, etc)
to give to needy people.

I carry on that tradition
by boxing up
gently used
or unwanted new
sh*t
to give to charity shops.

I clear out sh*t.

I free space
for the new year,
for all the sh*t
that will accompany
those exciting projects.

And I pass along
the unwanted sh*t
to people/entities
that will benefit from it.

Box your unwanted sh*t up.
Give it a new home.

Spend Dedicated Time With Loved Ones Today

If your business is closed today,
consider spending
dedicated, focused time
with loved ones today.

These loved ones could be
family members
or friends
or your cat
or any being you care about.

Give those beings
ALL of your attention today.
Listen to their stories
with everything you have.
Put your phone away.
Be completely present.

This will be good
for your loved ones,
good for your relations,
and
good for your soul.

Spend dedicated time
with loved ones today.

Forgo The After Work Celebration

This part of the holiday push
is over.
Yes!

It might be tempting
to host a celebration
after your business closes
for the day.

Resist that urge.

Your employees
are likely tired.

They also likely have
loved ones and friends
eager to see them.

And, if they like you,
they’ll feel obligated
to attend the celebration.

Celebrate with your employees
some other time.

Celebrate tonight
with your own friends
and loved ones.

The Last Big Push

December 25th is
a holiday for many people.

December 24th
is often
either a half day
or a full day off
(due to it falling on a Sunday
this year).

Today is the last big push
for many of us
before the holidays.

Send those messages.
Help your last minute
shoppers.
Motivate your employees
and partners.

We can do this!

Stay Healthy – Emotionally And Physically

Yesterday,
I advised all of us
to take a one minute break
and enjoy the world around us.

I didn’t say this
merely to increase
our happiness levels.

Though that WAS
my main reason
for giving
that advice.

I advised to take a break
because that will help
to keep us healthy
– emotionally and physically.

And very few of us
have the excess time
to be sick right now.

Being sick
is sh*t for business building.

Take a f*cking break.

Look At The Lights

The holiday season
is a busy time
for almost all business builders.

This might be
our best time for sales.

Partners might be taking
time off
over the holidays.

WE might be taking
some time off.

We have a lot of sh*t to do.

But take a minute.
That’s all that’s needed
– one minute.

And admire a display of holiday lights.
Or savor a bite of holiday baking.
Or watch someone open a gift.
Or hug someone you love.

Give that minute of happiness
to yourself.

And THEN you can
get back to work.

How To Pay Attention

Yesterday, I talked about
how we all should
know the signs of failure,
watch for them,
and
then act on them.

There are millions
of points of failure.

Who has the excess time
to monitor all of them?

I certainly don’t
have this spare time.

What I do
is I monitor people
monitoring the possible points
of failure.

I’ll follow experts
on my industry
or climate change
or fascism
or business.

Every week or so,
I’ll scan their feeds.

And that usually gives me a sense
of what might happen soon.

Track the social media posts
of the people
monitoring failure.

That should keep you
adequately informed.

Know The Signs Of Failure

We’re installing solar panels
in our private residence.

We’re doing this
because there are warnings
of power failures
in Texas, in Alberta,
in England
and in many other places.

We don’t live
in any of those places
but those multiple warnings
in multiple locations
are a sign of
possible energy failures everywhere.

In my business,
I’m also crafting as many
marketing images as I can.

I’m doing this
because the company
owning the tool I use
is really hustling
to increase sales.

They’re crowding their site
with advertising.
They’re sending me
emails every day
trying to convince me
to upgrade my account.

They’re acting
like they’re desperate for cash.
And that is a sure sign
of business failure.

Know the signs of failure.
When you see those signs,
take action.

The Easy Mode

When I need to quiet
my brain,
I often play
a solitaire-type game online.

I have it set
on the easiest mode.

Why?

Because the rest of my life
can be extremely challenging.

I’m building businesses
and trying to make the world
a better world.

I don’t need challenge
in my entertainment.

There are quite a few
‘easy modes’
in life.

We can do things like
pre-authorize bill payments
or outsource snow removal
or rideshare
instead of driving ourselves.

Every aspect
of your life
doesn’t have to challenge you.

Pick the easy mode
on some activities.