By John Paschall, Servant Leader
Success in Business – From the Inside Out
Happy New Year to all of you! We hope that 2013 is a very prosperous, successful, and blessed year for all of our newsletter readers. We hope that you will take some time during the year to help us celebrate our 50th Anniversary as your BBB. We have an amazing line-up of events. Don’t miss them! These will be wonderful opportunities to promote your business in the community and spread the word about the great work that you are doing.
“How to Be Successful in Business” – interested already, aren’t you? As business leaders we are constantly looking for ways to be more successful in business, to expand our market share, to make our customer service better, and to, well, build a better business. We go to seminars, we read books, we try new ideas, and we are constantly working to improve. The key is right there – we are working. We are taking action. We are not waiting.
One of the primary keys to success in business is to do it from the inside out – by controlling and choosing your attitude. It has been said that our attitude not our aptitude will ultimately determine our altitude. In other words, what we think and how we think is more important than our talent and skills in determining how high we will fly in our chosen endeavor. This is actually a proven fact.
So often we hear others say (or say to ourselves), “You know, if I could speak like him, or sing like her, or had the physical talent or beauty like that person, I would be famous too.” Do you want to know the honest truth – actually, no! The fact is, if we won’t use and develop our own talents and abilities what makes us think that we would use someone else’s? “Not a cotton-pickin thing”, is right! As business leaders, sometimes we gaze up at the CEO’s of major corporations and the multi-millionaires and say – “Wow, if I had that kind of talent and opportunity, wouldn’t I be great!” Again, we are mistaken. We want other people’s RESULTS, not other people’s TALENTS and ABILITIES. The fact is, we have exactly the same OPPORTUNITY to develop the talents and abilities we do have. However, to be successful, we have to make the same commitment those other people made. Hard work, dedication, and effort over time will help us reach that same level of success. Most successes are not "overnight".
When we contact business owners about renewing their investment with us we sometimes hear statements such as, “Business is slow.” “Money is tight.” “The economy is bad.” We certainly understand the challenges.
The Real Truth? If something is broken, fix it. If you are not where you want to be, change it! That may sound overly simplistic and maybe a little “right between the eyes”, but honestly, sometimes the solutions in life ARE that simple.
Zig Ziglar, a great motivational speaker who passed away in 2012, often said: “In every great economy, there are businesses going broke. In every recession, there are businesses that are booming.” Why? Because business is really never bad or good “out there”, your business success is determined by your attitude – what goes on between your own two ears!
Have you made any of these statements in 2012?
- Business is really slow.
- The economy is bad.
- Money is tight.
- I wish my employees gave better customer service.
- I wish we could expand into other areas in Southeast Texas.
- I wish we had better advertising.
- I wish I knew more about social media like Facebook and Twitter and how it could help my business.
- I wish I could expand our business.
Are we hitting anywhere close to home? Again, I do not want to oversimplify, but here is how those questions strike me:
- Business slow – make it faster, do something about it
- Economy bad – make your business good. Many businesses in our area have just chosen not to participate in the recession
- Money tight – bring more in – take action, try something different
- Want better customer service – attend a training, send your employees to a training, provide examples, hire a new employee
- Want better advertising – ask someone, seek out solutions, hire a professional
- Social media – learn more, take a class, attend a seminar
- Want to expand – do it, take the step, make the jump
- If you need help in any of these areas, call us, we can help!
The point is, we need to work to MAKE our circumstances and not allow ourselves to be VICTIMS of our circumstances. One of the things that my team has come to learn about me is that I am not afraid or slow to make changes – sometimes too fast, but not too slow! Here’s why: one definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again – but expect different results. If you want to make significant change in your life or in your business, you have to make changes, improvements, and do things in a different, better way.
Let’s make 2013 the year that we stop making excuses for why things are the way they are, and start taking action to improve them and move our lives and our organizations to the success that we seek. Have a great month and keep building your better business! Let us know how we can help you in 2013!
