Some people were surprised
when I mentioned yesterday
we drive an older car.
They shouldn’t be surprised.
Older cars often
provide the best
return on investment.
Status symbols
like new luxury cars,
in contrast,
often give a terrible
return on investment.
I don’t need
to impress clients or customers
or anyone else
with my car.
I value safety
and return on investment.
Status symbols often
give a terrible
return on investment.
Factor that into
your decision making.
Our household’s
10 year old
purchased used
car
broke down.
It is taking a while
to repair.
And that is okay.
Because we kept
our previous much older car
as a potential backup.
I try to have backups
for all my older assets.
There is a replacement
for my 5 plus year old printer
in a closet.
I have multiple spare laptops
and keyboards
and other essential-for-my-business
devices.
If a device or other asset
is old
yet essential for your business,
invest
in a backup.
(This backup could be purchased used
or simply be the still functional device
the latest device replaced.)
We’re business builders.
We tend to work
very, very hard.
We should also,
however,
play hard.
The ‘play’ shows us
what we’re working hard for.
When you play,
decide to enjoy that play
to the fullest.
Yes, things won’t go
exactly
as you had planned.
As business builders,
we know NOTHING
ever goes
exactly as planned.
But try to enjoy
those misadventures also.
They give us
more interesting stories to tell.
And don’t allow
anyone or anything
decrease that fun.
Get the best return (fun)
on your time investment.
Humans downplay threats.
That’s what the average person does.
Again and again.
Threats lead to change
(and extra work)
and very few people like change
(or extra work).
So when someone on your team
comes to you
with a concern,
it is highly likely
they’ve already tried
to dismiss it as a concern.
They’re now talking to you
because they can no longer
ignore the problem.
The problem is THAT bad.
You’re human also.
So your first urge
will be
to dismiss it
as a concern.
Resist that urge.
Investigate the issue.
Immediately.
And thank the person
for bringing it to your attention.
Whenever a group of people
talk about money troubles,
someone usually suggests
the person in financial peril
start their own business.
I don’t recommend that
people who need cash today
try to find that cash
by starting a business.
Starting a business
might not take a lot of money
but it almost always
doesn’t EARN money
immediately.
Most of us
are lucky to break even
in that first tough year.
It is much faster
to grab some temp work
that pays reliably
or
to get a job
at a quick service restaurant
or
to sell some sh*t
you don’t need.
All that might lead
to a business.
But starting a business today
won’t pay the bills today.
It is a longer term
source of income.
When my surroundings
become a little too cluttered,
I watch an episode of Hoarders.
That motivates me
to get rid of items
I no longer need
or want.
Before working on
my next story,
I often reread a story
I absolutely love.
That motivates
me to write.
Much of success in life
is figuring out
how our unique brains work
and
what motivates us.
Pay attention
to how you feel
and what you feel
driven to accomplish
after doing or watching or reading
certain things.
Use these motivators
to get sh*t done.
If you run a business
that involves
partnering with people,
employing people,
selling to people,
COVID is,
right now,
a big f*cking problem
for you.
You and I likely don’t know
how big of a problem
it is
for us.
That drop in sales?
It is likely COVID-related.
That slow turnaround time?
It is likely COVID-related.
That demand for increased wages?
That is DEFINITELY COVID-related.
And the problem of COVID
isn’t getting solved quickly.
Why?
Because no one
is talking openly about the problem.
Many people
are pretending it doesn’t exist.
And that doesn’t
lead to any f*ckin’ solutions.
If you want
problems to be solved,
start
by talking about them.
I was handling
some papers
I absolutely could not
get dirty or damp yesterday.
(I was sending them
to other people.)
I had to ensure
my hands were clean
yet absolutely dry.
Simply drying them
with a towel
wouldn’t be sufficient.
So I washed them,
dried my hands with a towel,
and then used hand sanitizer.
Within a minute,
my hands were absolutely dry.
(Before using this technique,
ensure whatever you’re handling
won’t be harmed
with contact with dried hand sanitizer.)
I also use this trick
when I know
I’ll be shaking hands.
It rids me
of the dreaded clammy palms.
Hand sanitizer
dries hands quickly.
Have some on hand
(pun intended)
for situations requiring dry hands.
Most people don’t know
if 12 pm
is noon or midnight.
I’m one of those people.
I always have to
look it up.
And in this global
running 24 hours a day
business environment,
meetings could happen
at noon OR midnight.
A super easy solution
is to schedule meetings
at 11:57 am for noon meetings
and
at 11:57 pm for midnight meetings.
Ensure everyone knows
your noon meeting is starting
at noon.
Schedule it for
11:57 am.
Recently,
I scanned
a bunch of photos
borrowed from older generations.
A family had lost
all their photos
so I gave them virtual copies
of the photos we had
featuring
their family members
and their ancestors.
That won’t replace
all the photos
that were taken from them.
Many of those photos
had no copies.
But it gave them
SOME photos,
some visual tracking of history.
I gave everyone access
to the drive
where the scans are stored.
EVERYONE can have a copy.
That means the images should
never be completely lost.
What does this have
to do with building a business?
There are some documents
that you likely only have
in hard copy.
If these documents
are important to your business,
scan them
in case a fire, flood, theft
or something else happens
and they are lost to you.