Author: Garth Beyer

Solid business decisions are based on the premise that there’s a monetary return greater than the investment needed to execute.

Some businesses make ROI black and white – it’s all about the money, and the ROI better be a certain percentage for the tactic to be considered at all.

Other businesses make ROI more grey – mainly because there are often other returns on the investment that aren’t as easily translatable into dollar signs.

Public exposure. Doing something that makes you top of mind to your current customer or client base. The feeling of contributing to a philanthropic entity. The good standing you’ve kept with area community leaders. The person who tells a friend about you.

Consider this situation: You’re a restaurant and you have the opportunity to make a spooky-themed take-out meal box. You’ll donate $2 from each one sold to a local nonprofit. You’re only going to make $2 per box and you won’t sell more than 50.

Are you running the type of business that would make the spooky-themed take-out meal box happen or pass on it?

There’s not really a wrong answer. What matters is that we know who we are and we don’t pass on opportunities too be a better version of ourselves.

Stay Positive & What Does ROI Mean To You?

Photo credit

There’s not a better action you can take that will get you to where you want to go more than helping another person.

Promotions are given when you help enough clients and colleagues.

A novel is written better when one helps another write.

Relationships grow stronger when you’re there to help the other out in their day-to-day.

It can get exhausting working with a brain that’s always evaluating how to help another out, but ultimately rewarding.

So rewarding.

Stay Positive & Helpful

Photo credit

Imagine joining friends for lunch a year from now and they ask what you’ve been up to during the pandemic.

Will you have enough to talk about after you fill them in on the shows you watched and home purging you did?

If you joined friends for lunch a week from now and they ask what you’ve been up to.

Will you have something worth sharing and being proud of?

Fulfillment is at our fingertips.

Stay Positive & The Choice Is Yours

Photo credit

You could be putting out 20% off deals. Special offers. Discounts galore.

Or.

You might have already offered ongoing deals.

The deal that if they show up, they’ll leave better than they arrived.

The deal that if they paid you, they’ll feel like the value received was greater than the cash exchanged.

The deal that you’ll be there, as your authentic self, tomorrow just as today.

We might not need to add more deals, but stand by the deals we’ve already made.

Stay Positive & Double Down, Not On Discounts, But On The Existing Deals

Photo credit

Meaningful work isn’t a race to the finish line.

Better to be the first to start. The first to step in a puddle. The first to make a wrong turn. The first to cheer on others. The first to welcome the spectators. The first to see the naysayers. The first through the obstacle course. The first to lead others.

Better, probably, to be the first to everything but the finish line.

That is. Unless you’re trying to be the first to start again.

Stay Positive & Increase Your Daily Dose Of Firsts

Photo credit

I fully agree with Seth Godin that, as a freelancer, it’s on us to choose better clients.

But it doesn’t stop with clients. Not really.

As workers making meaningful work, it’s on us to choose better colleagues and bosses.

As contributors to society, it’s on us to choose better nonprofits and associations to be part of.

As people with full hearts, it’s on us to choose better partners to go through life with.

It’s on us in all aspects. Groups. Associations. Clients. Colleagues. Friends.

And, as always, if we can’t choose one that’s better because it doesn’t exist – then it’s on us to create it.

Stay Positive & Grasp Better

Photo credit

If we’re going to default to doing the easy tasks on our list first, we might as well lean into making it a game.

A game that we can win big at by always adding something more challenging onto the list.

Here’s what happens:

We’re stressing about a speaking engagement we have set up for a week from now. It’s a small engagement, but it’s the biggest thing we need to prepare for. We can keep stressing about it OR we can add a bigger speaking engagement to our list. The work for the small engagement gets far easier to do and we worry less about it because there’s something bigger at stake.

Personally, since opening a craft beer bar, I’ve looked back and laughed at some of the conversations, transactions and events that I would have otherwise stressed to no end about. But it was all made minuscule by my commitment to even tougher conversations, transactions and events.

We can strategically use the expression “That’s the least of my worries” to our advantage.

Stay Positive & All It Requires Is Continuous Leaping

Photo credit