When something happy happens
in my life,
I now stop everything else
and focus on that moment.
It is rare.
It is precious.
It is likely fleeting.
And it is
what we are all working for.
It is why we build businesses.
We want that happiness
for ourselves
and for loved ones.
So enjoy the happy moments
when they happen.
They make everything else
worth doing.
It is October 8th
and I’ve ordered
all of my holiday presents.
All of them.
I put doing that
on the calendar
for September.
Every year.
I order presents early
because the holiday season
for me
and many business builders
is super busy business-wise.
December 26th, for example,
is usually my best eBook sales day
of the year.
I also order presents early
because the hot presents
often sell out early
and
because supply chains everywhere
are f*cked up
and
because my loved ones
are a priority
and I want to ensure
they know that.
Making them happy
shouldn’t be a last minute thing.
Order holiday presents
now.
Recently, a high profile media person
spoke openly about climate change.
Instead of celebrating
this strong addition
to the cause,
many climate change fighters
criticized this person
for not speaking about it
earlier.
With this kind of response,
why the f*ck
would anyone change their stance
on climate change?
They are now getting hate
from the climate change denier side
and
they certainly aren’t getting love
from the climate change fighting side.
They are alone.
Which is a position
many people fear.
Allow people on your team
to change their minds.
Especially when
that is for the better
of everyone.
I didn’t want to hear
complaints
on a project
so instead of sharing
the work 50/50
with my partner,
I took on 70%
of the work
and assigned only 30%
to the other person.
That 30% consisted
of easy tasks.
I still heard complaints.
And when I heard those complaints,
I was admittedly
extremely bitter
because I knew the person
wasn’t doing their fair share.
Share the work equally.
Then if you hear complaints,
you can renegotiate
from a stronger and a happier place.
I can’t afford to be ill.
I live in Canada.
My stance doesn’t have
anything to do
with the financial costs
of medical care.
It has to do with time.
I don’t have the spare time
to be ill.
I don’t WANT to spend
time being ill.
I have books to write
(products to produce),
businesses to run,
other things I’d prefer
to do.
So I take precautions.
I wear a mask.
I wash my hands.
I improve ventilation
in spaces I occupy
(I have a personal air purifier
I hang on an lanyard
and wear around my neck.)
All of this
takes mere seconds.
I can then focus on other things.
And I save countless days
not being ill.
You and I can’t afford to be ill.
Preventing illness
has a huge return on investment.
Make that investment.
Carl Sagan once said,
“Extinction is the rule.
Survival is the exception.”
We often think
the opposite is true.
We’re surrounded
by millions of species
that have survived.
Heck, WE’VE survived
(thus far).
We don’t realize
that many billions of species
have gone extinct.
This statement can be applied
to businesses.
Failure is the rule.
Success is the exception.
We see the successes.
We no longer see
the many, MANY failures
for each one of those successes.
If your business
is struggling,
if you have to close it,
know that is NORMAL.
It is part of business building.
And it doesn’t mean
your business building dreams
are over.
It merely means
that specific business
is over.
There will be more businesses
for you to build.
You and I are business builders.
That alone makes us rare.
It makes us different.
We don’t think
like everyone else.
We see, for example,
opportunities everywhere.
Other people don’t.
We will never truly
fit in.
We’ll always be
a little bit strange,
a little bit dangerous.
So don’t factor
you
‘fitting in’
into your decision making
for your business.
Make the right decision,
not the most popular one.
We were informed
that yet another loved one
has passed from a heart attack.
He was young, fit,
full of life.
A day before his death,
he complained
of chest pains.
He thought he’d pulled something
during his workout.
The next day,
he was dead.
Take chest pains seriously.
You can’t build a business
if you’re dead.
Get your a$$ to emergency
and ensure you are thoroughly examined.
Then,
when you’re given
the all clear,
return to building your business
and changing the world.
I attended a wedding reception recently.
One of the people at our table
told everyone
she was severely allergic
to all seafood.
Then she ate every seafood course
put in front of her.
About 8 of the 12 course
Chinese wedding meal
had seafood in it.
She ate all 8.
People say a lot
of sh*t.
They will look you
straight in the eye
and say they never eat french fries
while shoving a french fry
into their mouth.
NEVER base business decisions
purely on what people say.
Watch what they do.
I’ve been using
a pen that is low on ink
for the past two weeks
or so.
It irritates me.
But I continued to use it
because I didn’t want
to be wasteful.
That seems logical.
Except my irritation
makes it more challenging
for me
to write the next story
(to produce the next product).
And my irritation likely shows
in my writing
(my product development).
It also likely shows up
in my interactions with readers.
And that might be decreasing
my sales.
All of this is being caused
by my wish
to save a bit of ink.
I replaced that pen
yesterday
and I’m much happier.
I’m writing more
and my days are ‘magically’ better.
Replace aging or faulty tools.
They’re costing you
more than you realize.