You likely have someone
on your team
who quietly works
and offers support
in various ways.
This could be
an employee,
a spouse,
a partner,
a customer.
They are always there
and they likely do things
to support you
that you don’t know about.
It is d@mn easy
to take them for granted.
Recognize them.
Today.
Recognize them
in a way
THEY would want
to be recognized.
You’re d@mn fortunate
to have them on your team.
Ensure they know that.
When we run our own businesses
and can work hours
we decide to work,
people WILL take advantage
of that.
They will ask us
to pick up their kids
after school
or drive them to appointments
or do little tasks
that on their own
seem like nothing.
But multiplied
by everyone we know
and asked every day
suck all our time.
I help one person a day.
Many days, that’s it.
I don’t help more people
than that.
And some busy days,
I help by donating supplies
or cash
or helping to promote a promotion.
I tell the asker
of the favor
I can’t help
that I have to help someone else
that day.
Help people
but also protect your time.
I’m a big fan
of giving anonymously.
If I hear,
for example,
a kid needs a backpack
for school,
I’ll drop one off
on their doorstep
with a note
‘from the universe’
(or something like that).
I’ll ring the doorbell,
wait out of their view
and ensure they pick it up.
Because they can’t attribute
the gift
to one person,
they tend to attribute
it to EVERYONE.
That makes their world
a happier,
kinder,
more generous place.
It also saves their pride.
And I don’t have to do
the ‘no, you take it,
I’m sure about it’
dance.
Consider giving
anonymously.
We decide our legacies.
We influence
how people remember us
when we’re here
on this Earth
and after we’re gone.
If you want to be
remembered fondly,
with joy,
with caring,
do the things
that leave that legacy.
Build more
than you destroy.
(And yes,
this includes building businesses.)
Love more
than you hate.
Give more
than you take.
Support more
than you punish.
Help more
than you hinder.
It is basic math.
Positive contributions > Negative contributions
= Being Missed After We’re Gone.
It is truly
THAT easy to leave
a wonderful legacy.
There are people
in this world
who close the doors
behind them.
If a program
or a pathway
or a strategy
benefited them in the past
and they’re now
no longer using it,
they will try the d@mnedest
to eliminate it.
Be VERY careful
around those people.
If you find yourself
on the wrong side of a door,
they will not only
not help you
but they will try
to ensure that door
is never opened to you
or anyone else.
Do NOT ask them
for help.
Ever.
They will make
the situation worse
for you.
And actively work to keep
the doors you have used
open.
Because I guarantee
others are trying
to close them.
Yesterday, I told
a loved one
I was proud of them
and all they’ve accomplished
thus far
in their life.
She cried.
She hadn’t heard that
from…anyone else.
She HAD heard
a LOT of criticism.
We all do.
People are quick
with the negatives
and slow (if at all)
with the positives.
Tell someone
today
you’re proud of them.
Change their world
for the better.
I spent the weekend
with two loved ones
– an older loved one
and the younger loved one
who voluntarily takes care of her.
The extremely bitter
older loved one
didn’t say thank you
to the younger loved one
at all,
not once
during the entire weekend.
I was shocked
by the lack of gratitude.
And I told her that.
She said
if she said thank you
every time
he did something for her,
she’d be saying thank you
all the time.
I told her
yes, that’s what
she SHOULD be doing.
If he takes the time
to help her,
she should at least
take the time
to say two words in return.
Saying thank you
does a number of things.
It makes the other person
feel appreciated.
That alone is worth
uttering those two words.
But it also reminds us
that the other person
didn’t have to take
that action.
They could have ignored us
and walked away.
That’s ALWAYS an option.
It builds gratitude
within us
and gratitude
is the key to happiness.
Yep, we often increase our own joy
by thanking others,
by uttering those two short words.
Say thank you..
for the other person
and for yourself.
I think there’s nothing
more confirming
of the sh*tstorm we are in
than
scientists switching from
trying to stop climate change
to
trying to make these
‘last years’
comfortable for
the inhabitants of the world.
Being of service,
as many scientists are saying,
is a good motto
for all of us,
especially for business builders.
Our products or services
should add value
to the world.
They should make lives easier
or happier
or better in some way.
They should serve
their target markets.
Yes, make a profit
(if that is your goal)
but also
be of service.
A loved one
is a skilled, in demand salesperson.
He almost ALWAYS has
a lunch or dinner
with a prospect or client.
Yesterday, he had three dinners.
Yep, three.
He was expected to order a meal
at each dinner.
Eating with people
is a bonding activity.
And he was expected to order a ‘good’ meal
so the clients and prospects
felt free to order
‘good’ meals also.
That extravagance makes them happy
and happy people buy products/services.
My loved one couldn’t finish his meals.
He wasn’t that hungry.
And he was making conversation
most of the time.
He didn’t have time to eat.
So he asked the servers
to pack his meals to go.
(Not wasting food
sends the signal
he won’t waste
his clients’ resources.)
My loved one made jokes
about how he’ll be hungry later.
The clients/prospects laughed.
Everyone was happy.
When he left the restaurant,
and he had a moment alone,
he gave the meals
to the homeless.
That made more people
happy.
Take the leftovers
from your breakfast/lunch/dinner meetings
with clients/prospects.
Use them
to make someone’s world
a bit better.
Leah Jeffries
has been receiving
a lot of hate
after being cast
in the new Percy Jackson TV Show.
Racists are justifying
these attacks,
saying Jeffries’ character
was white in the books
and she should be white
in the TV Show also.
The author of those books,
Rick Riordan
has very publicly
addressed this.
“You are judging
her appropriateness
for this role solely
and exclusively
on how she looks.
She is a Black girl playing someone
who was described in the books
as white.
Friends, that is racism.”
THIS is how
we use our power
for good.
We call others
on their bullsh*t.
And, as business builders,
we DO have power.
We influence
how our employees,
our partners,
our customers
treat other people.
Use that power
to make this world
a better place.