Author: Garth Beyer

The regular result of being faced with doing a task that’s uncomfortable, that your nervous you’ll screw up, that’s maybe something new for you? You have to pee.

Of course there are other reactions too: Check email, get something to drink, grab a different pen, ask your coworker how their evening was, check in on a project that’s on someone else’s plate, check email again, etc,.

You can work to motivate yourself to do what you need to do. For some that’s enough. But for those who it doesn’t work for, my advice is: don’t go to the bathroom.

Instead, spend your energy not doing the task that will take you away from doing what matters. See how long you can hold it. Test yourself how long you can forgo checking email. It’s a mental game, but it works.

 

Stay Positive & Aren’t Games Fun?

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There’s something in the brain that when you see an ad, read a story, witness a moving video about a product, you instantly feel cared for. Someone believes in a product enough to put marketing dollars behind it; to show they care.

Sure, some abuse marketing. There will always be those who see a problem and throw money at it, but that still hasn’t stopped us from recognizing that any marketing initiative is a manifestation of someone who cares.

We’re willing to go through the weeds to find a brand that can show they care more than others. After all, when you can’t compete on function or style (because everyone is doing it) what’s left to strive for?

 

Stay Positive & Find Those Heartstrings

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The truth about business success is that it’s not going to last.

That’s the arena you’re playing in when you start or take one over. It’s ever-changing, ever-competitive, ever-pulling you to do something new or to do something more. And for every business, there are limits.

Only so much can be produced in 24 hours…attempting to do so for cheaper is a race to the bottom.

Only so much quality can be produced….before your target, business, and entire brand begins to change.

The success that Apple sees now isn’t the success they’ll see forever. Same for Logitech, Justin’s Chocolate, and Qdoba. Same for the Ma and Pa shops, too.

The best thing we can do is to make choices that increase our chance of success and understand that success may change (and it should!) as time goes on.

 

Stay Positive & There’s No Guarantee Of Success To Begin With, Let Alone Everlasting Success

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Strategy always involves risk because we don’t know for sure how our choices will turn out.

A strategic plan, by definition, is one that’s different from a competitors or one that’s entirely new to an industry. Within that plan there are layers of uncertainty.

But strategy is ultimately necessary (when decided on by the right people in the right seats); it’s what keeps you differentiated, aligned on your core values, and provides the blue print for profits.

Yet, when problems arise, profits tumble, shareholders question your leadership, many think they’re failing on execution, not strategy. They think “If I run a little faster than I’ll exceed more.”

But the truth is that running faster doesn’t help if you’re going in the wrong direction. All things considered (leadership, capabilities, financials, etc,.) any sign of failure can be tracked back to strategy.

The big question is if it’s the wrong strategy all-together or if it’s a piece that can be adjusted and still make the model work.

Or, you know, you can keep shrugging it off to be the wrong execution or not enough of it.

 

Stay Positive & Ready To Do The Emotional Labor Of Finding Out?

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It’s never dramatically. It’s never in one foul swoop. It’s never overnight.

It’s one misguided decision after the other. It’s small cut by small cut. It happens when you’re distracted, putting out fires, and in meetings.

 

Stay Positive & Success Comes From Doing The Small Things Right

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My piece of advice for businesses is to not build it like it’s a book.

There’s no setting and forgetting. There’s no permission to misspell something on a menu because it’s the first edition. There’s no shelf to put your business on and wait for someone to pick it up.

Most importantly, anyone who has ever read a good book knows that you can’t read it again as if it was for the first time, but with your business you can.

And that’s the opportunity every business owner must uphold: making even the 100th time a customer buys your product or uses your service feel like it’s the first time.

 

Stay Positive & How Can You Tell Your Story Better Next Time?

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Through years of researching clients, industries, stories, brands, cultures and on, I’ve learned one necessary tactic to ensuring quality results and key takeaways: talk to people.

Numbers and facts don’t move people, but numbers and facts backed by the emotion of someone who feels them–that’s when you have a story.

Nothing will get you as far and get you there as fast as giving someone a call.

Talking. Person to person.

 

Stay Positive & The Only Thing You Really Need To Google Is Contact Info

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