It's all too easy in business, when the chips are down, to slash expenditure and take the attitude that you can't afford to focus on anyone or anything else. There are lots of companies and individuals in that position at the moment, but the truth is that concentrating exclusively on yourself and your own business probably won't be as beneficial as you might think. In fact, it may actually be detrimental in the long-run, to both your business and your own wellbeing.
We get what we focus on most of the time, and if your world becomes too introspective when times are hard, personal and professional relationships can falter, you can lose perspective and morale will become low. While batoning down the hatches may save money and enable the business to keep ticking over in the short term, you'll probably find it's unsustainable.
Successful business is all about successful relationships and people who excel in lots of areas in their life tend to be fundamentally positive, optimistic, giving people. They achieve success in the broadest sense of the word and it's because they take a holistic view of life, understanding that you get back what you put in. In simple terms, success to me means being happy, fulfilled, healthy, wealthy, and contributing to others every day in a positive and meaningful way.
My personal mission, and the mission of our franchise business, is: "be more, do more, have more and give more." Over the past 10 years I've spent over a hundred thousand pounds of my own money learning from multi-millionaires and billionaires and it's the best investment I've ever made. It's helped me understand that when people create sustainable wealth, financial freedom and time freedom, it's not entirely because of what they do, but because of who and what they are. And that 'giving' element doesn't simply refer to money; it's about having an 'abundance' mentality: help others get what they want and you'll find they'll help you in return, on many different levels.
When people are naturally generous and have a spirit of wanting to share time, skills and money, it's a good sign that a relationship will be reciprocal & lasting, and those people tend to have a high level of success in business. People who are the reverse, and have a 'scarcity' mentality feel there's not enough to go around, play their cards very close to their chest and keep their ideas, knowledge and contacts to themselves. They hold a mistaken belief that they'll have an advantage over their peers and competitors, but these people tend not to achieve either success or happiness in the long term. It's been proven that the more positive contacts you make with other successful people, the more your own success will grow. As Mark Victor Hanson said, "Your network equals your net worth", and the more you give, the more you'll get back.
And so in times like this, when the economy is hitting everyone hard - business owners, investors, employees, families - it's even more important that we all make an effort to positively impact those around us and society at large. Forget about money, think about what else you can offer; what knowledge and skills could you share, and how much time could you give to help others? There are always going to be aspects of business - for example the availability of loans, demand for a product or service, etc - that you can't do anything about. Instead, think about where you can make a difference and achieve success, because that will make you and those around you feel happier and more fulfilled.
Last year, one of our franchise partners, Caroline Marsh, was chosen to feature on the C4 prime-time programme, 'The Secret Millionaire'. Nine months on, she is continuing to support two projects in Toxteth, through on-going business and personal coaching, and as a result of the programme and her elevated profile, she's been able to become involved with local and national charities and business networks, joining people like Esther Rantzen and Peter Jones in not-for-profit enterprises.
As well as running her own successful property business and being a wife and mother, Caroline regularly gives up her time to speak and network at business, property and charity events, inspiring and motivating people. While she's certainly busier than she's ever been, she's also more fulfilled and happier. She acknowledges she's growing and improving as a person every day, thanks to the people she's meeting and the opportunities she's being given, and takes enormous pleasure in knowing she is helping others.
And for me, that's the greatest reward of all. Knowing I can help others achieve success and make a difference to their lives is why I choose to spend so much of my time mentoring and coaching. In your business, look at your staff, suppliers and associates and think about how you could positively impact them; look at how you can be more and do more, to enable you to have more and give more.
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