Newsletter for June 2005:
Just Get Started!
Contents:
- This Months Thought
- Just Get STARTED!
- Quotes of the Month
- Strictly Business: Thought: Clone Yourself!
- Humor: You Know It’s 2005 When
This Months Thought
This month, start wherever you are, with whatever you've got, and DO something with it! If you can do something brilliant that's wonderful, but get started! And if you can't do something brilliant, then just "keep on keeping on." One day at a time, do what you can and repeat it until you reach the top of the mountain, until that wonderful day when your friends wake up and are amazed at how "lucky" you are!
Just Get STARTED!
This month I had one of those "blinding flashes of the obvious" – times when something jumps up and I laugh at myself for not having seen what's been in front of me all along. Here's the distinction I finally "got":
"We don't need more good ideas; we need better execution of the ideas we already have!"
I was talking with a member of one of my network groups about where we get our best ideas. We talked about marketing experts, about websites and technology resources, about all the books we've read. It was a wonderful discussion, but I started getting restless because the list seemed endless.
Finally, I got that flash of the obvious! We already have LOTS of pretty good ideas! They may not be the most brilliant or best ideas in the world, but they aren't totally stupid, either! Fundamentally, I pretty much know what I "ought" to be doing. The problem is not with getting more and better ideas. The problem is in the execution.
The problem, as always, is GETTING STUFF DONE!
Many people are familiar with the distinction that perfection is often the enemy of excellence. In trying to do something "perfectly" we procrastinate. We wait until we have all the information and all the tools we might need, and as a result the job never gets done at all! The objective for most projects is not perfection, but excellence.
Here's another distinction that is similar: "Best practices" are often the enemy of "good enough" practices!
In trying to find out how the experts do things, and modeling ourselves after the most effective people in our industry or profession, too often we end up never getting started.
Yes, of course, we want to be smart and efficient and use the best techniques we can find. Of course we want to be "ahead of the curve"; there's nothing wrong with that! (I am certainly a fan of education and learning and coaching!) But sometimes looking for the "BEST" simply becomes an excuse to avoid getting started.
Most of the time, I know the next step. Most of the time, I have an idea about how to proceed. Most of the time, I KNOW what I need to do!
Only rarely do I truly need new ideas or expert advice before I can take the next step. Only rarely must I read a book or find the perfect website in order to get started. Most of the time what I really need is to take what I already know, add a bit of time and effort (usually called "work"), and GET STARTED!
I believe it is Tony Robbins who says that EVERY action gets some kind of result and that even inefficient action will eventually get positive results. Of course, we want to be as smart and productive as possible - no one argues about that - but often the key to achievement is not a new tool or better information or superior talent. Often the key to achievement is simply using what we have and out-working the competition.
This week, start wherever you are, with whatever you've got, and DO something with it! If you can do something brilliant that's wonderful, but get started! And if you can't do something brilliant, then just "keep on keeping on." One day at a time, step by step, do what you can and repeat it until you reach the top of the mountain, until that wonderful day when your friends wake up and are amazed at how "lucky" you are!
Quotes of the Month
"Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step." -- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
"The men who try to do something and fail are infinitely better than those who try to do nothing and succeed." -- Lloyd Jones
"Continuous effort--not strength or intelligence--is the key to unlocking our potential." -- Winston Churchill
"Inch by inch, anything's a cinch!" -- Unknown
Business Thought: Clone Yourself!
One of the key distinctions between creating your own job and building a business is the ability to hire other people to work for you and in some cases, do your work for you.
Most professionals run their "practice" as a business for tax and accounting reasons, but in fact they have a job they have created for themselves. They may enjoy being their own boss, but they still have to show up and do their work in order to get paid. That's one definition of a "job."
Increasingly, professionals are training others to do much of what they used to do themselves. Attorneys use legal assistants, and physicians are delegating more and more work to both nurses and the relatively new profession of "PA's" - Physician Assistants. The most successful sales professional I know has a personal staff of four people who work for HER, not for her employer. (Important distinction!) In many cases, her staff can close sales even if she is on vacation. Her commissions continue while she is on the beach!
Successful business people learn to delegate. They hire experts who can strengthen and diversify the office. They understand that training and leading a team will always be more profitable than doing it all yourself.
Learn to delegate and to train and supervise others. The key to building your business is almost never "doing" more; it's hiring and supporting great people.
Humor: You Know Its 2005 When...
The following humor is another example of the kinds of stuff friends and acquaintances send me, which helps keep me in good spirits. I got it - on several of the items, including #19. (And for goodness sake, DON'T PEAK! Save the laugh for later!)
You Know you're Living in 2005 When:
You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.
You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.
You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3.
You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.
Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses.
You go home after a long day at the office and still answer the phone with your name and title.
You make phone calls from home, you accidentally dial "9" to get an outside line.
You've sat at the same desk for four years and worked for three different companies.
You learn about your redundancy on the 11 o'clock news.
Your boss doesn't have a clue how to do your job.
You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home.
Every commercial on television has a website at the bottom of the screen.
Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have for the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go get it.
You get up in the morning and go online before getting your coffee.
You start tilting your head sideways to smile.
You're reading this and nodding and laughing.
Even worse, you know exactly who you are going to forward this message to.
You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.
You actually scrolled back up to see if there was a #9 on this list.
Rodger Blaker works with small business owners and professionals who want to grow their business and create an extraordinary life! For info on resources for your success, visit: http://www.rodgerblaker.com
GIVE A GIFT TO A FRIEND! Please forward this copy to your friends and colleagues! That's how I grow!