Another Insanity Block to Success

You’re probably familiar with the definition of insanity, right? Doing the same thing and expecting different results. Of course sometimes you can do the same thing and you do get different results, like when you drive the same highways to and from work and it takes different amounts of time each day depending on traffic and accidents, and sometimes you can wear down someone with repeated questions/requests, but for many things that have few, if any, varying factors, the definition certainly applies.

Based on some recent conversations I was thinking about another kind of insanity. Do you know anyone who will ask you or someone else the same questions multiple times, for instance what day a holiday is or how much something is or if something’s available for purchase or what the options are for something? I know several people who sometimes lapse into this habit or practice, that it’s more than just second guessing or double checking or making sure they heard you correctly, but that they clearly don’t have faith in the answer you’ve given them and want to make you doubt yourself by asking you again and again. It would be one thing if there was a question of parameters that they could adjust or that they had a specific something they wanted checked or confirmed that might not have been checked initially, but that’s not the case and what they’re asking is the same exact question over and over again. Frustrating and something that might drive you insane, right?

I’m all about ‘measure twice, cut once,’ but 1 foot is still 1 foot and will always be 1 foot and you can’t change that no matter how many times you measure it. So in success journeys where you’ve asked someone to help you with something, or if you’ve delegate it to a team member, as always start with as much information as you possibly can so that they don’t have to go back time and again to update their answers based on additional information you didn’t share initially even though you had it. If you notice that you have fallen into this habit or practice, I would encourage you to really think about why you ask a question multiple times (especially if it’s unconscious and not a matter of doubt or distrust), and make changes to your life and communication efforts so that you don’t stress yourself out as much and you do your part to make sure that people understand what information would help you understand their conclusions so that you don’t ask them the same questions again and again.

Celebrating Another Holiday Season

You don’t need another post, article or news bite telling you exactly how messed up the world is in so many ways right now. It certainly seems rare that there isn’t some kind of bad news in the headlines each day, and it seems like more often than not it’s of the large-scale variety and not the salmonella or death-of-a-famous-person variety. I would also say that most days include some form of challenge, change or issue in our personal lives too that wreaks havoc on the plans we had or the peace we thought we finally had in sight.

So it’s no surprise that we approach another holiday season with some trepidation and more than a few concerns. I think it’s natural to question if it’s right to celebrate when others are suffering so greatly. When their holidays won’t look like ours because they’re in a war zone or they just lost a relative to gun violence or a family member just passed away after an illness or someone’s been out of work for longer than expected and just aren’t getting traction on a new job, how can we celebrate?

In some ways I think the answer is that we have to. I don’t think it’s healthy for anyone, and especially the kids, to not celebrate or to be somber and solemn in anticipation of something bad maybe happening. If we recognize how blessed we are, that we’re not suffering or dealing with great loss, I think it’s OK to say a prayer (or several) for those we know (and those we don’t) who are suffering or struggling and then work on enjoying and celebrating to the best of our ability. I know that I look back on the holiday gatherings before the pandemic and all the other things that have happened and are happening now, and I’m thankful for every time we showed up and participated in those holiday events because it means we did spend those special events together and we do have those awesome memories to look back on. Even in the good years I can remember taking time to remember and honor those who have passed on or pack up a bag of treats for a family that’s struggling. And how can you pass on all the special traditions and stories if you don’t celebrate, right?

So light a special candle, say a special prayer, speak their name and share the stories at gatherings, donate to causes and communities that have meaning to you, and make time to be thankful for all the blessings you have and the fact that you’ve got the opportunity to celebrate another holiday season.

Let Love Lead

I’ve spent whole months talking about love before, it’s a very popular and sometimes controversial topic. And over and over again I’ve seen that love can’t be put in a box, can’t be defined and isn’t something that will follow human rules.

Love doesn’t mean you don’t call people out when they’re wrong, or don’t bring people to justice for breaking the law, love is separate and outside of that. Love means that even though you don’t agree with someone on everything you can still love them. Just imagine how many relationships would end if people decided because they had a few differences they couldn’t possibly be in love. Love crosses the divides we have in our lives so that we can see deep down we’re all human. No one is perfect. But fighting and arguing with people won’t get anyone closer to anything good.

If you and your partner have fallen into the habit of fighting instead of conversing, I encourage you to agree to pause a conversation when it goes from a discussion to a “discussion” until you can both get a hold on your emotions and return to the conversation remember to put your love first rather than whatever else was getting in the way. Putting your love for each other first may also help you make better and quicker decisions and have more time for the good stuff too. Will you let love lead this week?

“We are lovable, no matter what. If you doubt this, that’s ok. Look around at, or imagine some of the faces of the people you love. You would love them no matter what, wouldn’t you? And you know they would love you too.” Gareth Higgins

Do You Know Your Customers?

Did you know that October 19 is ‘get to know your customers’ day? I know some people only pay attention to the federal holidays or those recognized by the world at large, but other people really enjoy Star Wars Day, apple turnover day and roller coaster day, not to mention coffee or donut day (which makes lots of free coffee or donuts available!). Whether you follow all the esoteric holidays or not, when I saw that today was all about customers, I knew we needed to talk about it because without customers we wouldn’t have a business.

First, can I say that if you only spend one day each year really getting to know your customers you’re probably going to be out of business soon? It’s one thing to have one customer appreciation day each year, but to not be conducting research and learning about your customers throughout the whole year means you’re missing out on a lot of information. Even if you aren’t really impacted or guided by trends there are still a ton of changes that anyone goes through throughout the year and you could be missing out on opportunities to meet those changing needs if you’re not hearing from your customers on a regular basis.

Second, I wish business owners saw it as an opportunity and not a chore or another thing to add to their never ending to-do list. Most business owners start or buy a business because they love something about it, and know that there are customers out there who share that love. Maybe we just get bogged down by the details and the weight of responsibility and we forget how awesome it is to be interacting with customers and getting excited about our industry. So not only can you get first hand insights into what is and isn’t working or what can be improved when you leave your office and spend a little time on the sales floor (whatever that might look like) or phone lines, but you also get the opportunity to interact with the customers, the people who share the same passion as you do.

Finally, how do you get to know your customers? There are tons of ways! You can have actual conversations with them, you can check out the sales/social/return/review data, you can poll your customer service representatives for their feedback, you can look at the questions that are sent in and repeatedly asked, and of course you can send polls and surveys from time to time to ask for their thoughts on specific topics.

So what do you love most about your customers and what’s one thing you’ve done to better integrate what you learn from your customers on a regular basis?

Your Success Story

Are you into art or architecture? Even if you’re not, you’re probably familiar with some of the most famous names like Picasso, Leonardo da Vinci, Degas and Frank Lloyd Wright. But if you talk with someone who does know art, they’ll tell you that each artist has a specific style that’s all their own and that usually you can tell which artist painted something just by looking for certain tells. I’m not that skilled but I certainly know that it’s possible for each artist to leave their unique stamp on each work of art they create. I’m a little better off when it comes to architecture or even literature and can do a better job of seeing those unique attributes that are specific to an architect or writer.

I think this should be one of the goals that we have when it comes to success. Yes, we can paint or create a building or write a book, that’s one level of accomplishment and success. When we make it uniquely ours we jump up to a completely different level of success that some people never accomplish, either because they don’t think they can do anything unique or don’t feel the need to do anything more than the minimum that’s necessary to accomplish the goal.

Why go to the effort of creating your own style or putting your own fingerprint on something? Because when we’re gone it’s a very tangible way for people to remember us. I was reading an obituary for a dear friend who passed away recently and was really blessed by how closely it sounded like him and how it told his story with the humor and passion that he was so well known for. Our success journeys are another opportunity for us to leave our mark on the world. No, we don’t have to go crazy or try to create a name for ourselves that’s know around the world for decades or even centuries after our death. But it’s nice to know that people can look at the work we’ve done, be able to point at it and say that they know the person who did it, and be proud of what we’ve done for many years after we did the work. What do the things you’ve created, the work you’ve done, say about you?

Time Alone to Be Just You

Every day, whether in our personal lives or the world around us, we’re reminded of exactly how short our lives may be or how little time we have left with our loved ones or how important it is to take advantage of the time we do have with those we love. Once someone dies, once people move, once life situations change, you can’t get back to life as it was before. Which is why my advice today might sound a little strange: its important to take time for yourself away from your family and loved ones, and I do mean more than just during work/school hours, I mean like taking off by yourself for a weekend.

I’m a huge believer in being a team player, and I’ve seen time and again how much stress it transfers onto other family members when they either don’t pull their weight or are out of action for a time. So I know that it’s a sacrifice for one of the adults to go away for a couple of days, and I also know that it’s hard to let kids go away to camp or with a friend for a weekend because they too play a role in helping with siblings or setting up the table or loading the dishwasher or taking care of the pets or cutting the lawn or countless other things. One way or another everyone else has to pitch in and take up the things that that one person would be doing but aren’t because they’re not there.

But again, I think it’s worth it because sometimes we need to be reminded that we’re our own person separate from the awesome family that we’re part of and all the other responsibilities we have. It’s important to be able to take a break from getting a group consensus on all things and getting everyone ready to go when it’s time and going all the places with the kids, and to just be able to move at your own pace with only your own schedule to follow. It’s also about mental health and being able to stop long enough and not have everyone needing something from you to be able to process all that’s gone on in your life, going on in your life and really think hard on decisions that you might need to make. To this point it becomes not a want or nice thing to have, but a need.

Is this a practice in your family? Have you taken a solo vacation? What has been your experience with taking a break?

Ready for Holiday Business

Have you ever gone apple picking? My partner and I have gone several times in the past few years when our schedules have lined up, and this year I think it’s the earliest we’ve ever gone. It’s amazing how many different kinds of apples are out there and not nearly as much work as strawberry or raspberry picking is, and certainly not as dirty as potato picking! This year we thought we’d try a new apple orchard so I went online to do some research and we’re going to talk today about some of the things that helped us decide where to go and our orchard experience, which overall was a positive one and we’ll be excited to return to another year.

One of the big deciding factors to where we went was what apples they had available. As much as we enjoy the apple picking experience, we prefer to go to orchards that have more than just the 5 varieties that you can find at most local grocery stores. So many stores carry apples that are grown somewhat locally this time of year so you know that if you like the most popular/well known varieties you can get them there at a pretty good price, which means it doesn’t make sense to buy them at the orchard when you add up the total cost of picking your own. So part of my research was to discover which farms had which apples, and as a result one was eliminated right off the top. Another one or two were eliminated because they didn’t list or post what apples they had at all or which were ready for picking. In this time of year I know how much most businesses have going on, but it’s crucial to make sure that your information is updated weekly if not daily depending on how much things change in your business. It’s definitely worth it to hire someone during these last three months even if it’s just for a couple of hours each week to stay on top of all those updates.

One of the other things that I had to really compare was price. These days it’s not as simple as “buy a bag” picking, some farms charge an entrance fee, others have different size bags/containers that can be purchased to fill with apples at a flat fee, and others charge by the pound. So you have to know realistically how much you’re planning to buy to determine what makes the most sense price wise, and factor in the different options when it came to the entrance fee. But as with the list of apples available, some farms didn’t have a whole lot of information (or really any) about their pricing, while others laid it out in a way that was really overwhelming and over the top for someone looking to pick during what is definitely a non-prime time (middle of the day, weekday). Maybe it makes it easy for the farms to just have pricing that’s the same across the board for all days, but it doesn’t make it as appealing to pay the same for a quiet afternoon versus the insane weekend crowds. It’s certainly something to strongly consider when pricing out holiday events.

The final thing to talk about is visitors. The holidays bring out all kinds of people to stores and experiences that go to these places maybe once or twice a year as well as lots of people who try new places and experiences during the holiday season. One of the biggest challenges at the orchard was that it was sometimes hard to figure out which trees were which. Some of the trees were in the traditional nice neat rows that you see with each row being a kind of apple, while some of the other trees seemed to be laid out a lot more randomly. The nice neat rows were clearly labeled but the rest weren’t as clear, with the tree trunks painted with a stripe of color (which was hard to tell what was what when the branches were really low). You might know your store or experience like the back of your hand, you might even have what you call a “map” of the store/experience for people to check out but does it actually help new visitors navigate? Make sure your maps have “you are here” markers on them, and consider adding some other obvious points of reference on the map and around the site to help people navigate (like a really big scarecrow/turkey/Santa or specific photo taking opportunities). Yes, it’s a bit of work for you and your employees to create and update each year but it really makes it worth it to go the extra mile on labeling and orienting for your visitors to have a “can’t wait to return” experience.

Are you ready to welcome in lots of holiday celebrating people? What are the changes and updates that you’re making for this holiday season in your business?

Success Surprises

Do you know what’s really central to the success of many of the haunted/Halloween attractions? Yes, you’d be right if you said fear/scary things, but many times the things that make us jump and make it an awesome experience aren’t things that we’re actually scared of. What gets us most of the time is the surprise. It’s when the ghost jumps out at us, when the mummy springs from the coffin, or when the really loud noise sounds off that we get jumpy and it builds our fear response, even if we wouldn’t say we’re scared of ghosts, mummies or loud noises in general.

Yes, I love that most of the time success happens when we consistently, predictably put in effort and follow a plan. Few people just stumble into success or get lucky with their first effort. Think of Ben Franklin, Thomas Edison or any of the doctors who have worked to find cures for ALS, Alzheimer’s, cancer or AIDS. Some of those success stories are a work in progress, and even Thomas Edison and the lightbulb is a work in progress still, because it’s still undergoing renovations and alterations as the world around us changes and updates. This predictability and work required is one of the reasons why I love working on and talking about success: because usually we’ve got time to work out the kinks and put our personal touches on an effort from start to finish.

But sometimes surprise is a good thing in the success journey. These days musicians surprise us when they drop their records, they don’t always have publicized dates months in advance. We love a good surprise when we’re at our favorite restaurant like a free dessert or menu favorite that’s back. It’s awesome to be surprised by truly helpful customer service, especially when our day just hasn’t gone well. Sometimes the best ideas for a project come as a surprise from people who aren’t known for coming up with all the ideas. And maybe my favorite is that sometimes our success journey decides to cut us a little slack and surprise us with an easy goal achievement every now and again.

Maybe surprises aren’t your favorite thing, and that’s OK. But I don’t think we should write them off completely because they aren’t all bad and sometimes they’re the best thing we could have asked for. What surprises have you experienced recently in your success journeys?

A Family That Explores Together…

Recently I was talking with someone about a public figure who had appeared in the news for not-so-great reasons and while they weren’t making fun of the person, I could tell they definitely didn’t think very highly of them. So I jokingly said that the public figure must have followed the old saying ‘go big or go home,’ which the other person I was chatting with thought was hilarious. But in the weeks since that conversation I’ve been thinking more about what it means to “go big” and that we should dig in and dig deeper more often in our lives. Yes, status quo and consistency and maintaining is great (certainly better than loss or any of its relatives), yes it’s fun to sprinkle in some brief changes and challenges from time to time to keep us on our toes and keep the boredom away, but there’s so much more depth and magic to life that we can miss out on if we aren’t intentional about letting those experiences into our lives from time to time.

For example I love dogs and know they’re amazing animals, but if you never go to a zoo, if you never watch nature documentaries, if you never take any time to learn about the other creatures that we share this planet with, you’re missing out on a ton of creative, unique, smart, beautiful and dedicated animals. I’m not saying you have to become an animal expert, or an expert on any (or every!) topic out there, because that’s just not possible. But what I am saying is that it’s important to remind yourself, and teach your kids, that there’s a wide world out there that deserves respect (because some of it is really powerful and dangerous) and exploring and enjoying it should be a regular part of your lives.

As we immerse ourselves in the season of Autumn, I’m reminded that it’s a great time to do some exploring locally and discover some of the cool things that are in your local area (or state) because of the change in weather and schedules. Maybe you want to take on something you’ve always been curious about or something that’s a bit of a local mystery. Maybe you want to try something that’s a little scary or intimidating to you like doing an overnight hike or learning SCUBA or to learn metalworking. The younger you can start your kids on getting them excited about this world that we all share, the better. Why? Because some of the most intelligent people I know are those who are the most curious and continue to explore and learn about this world that we all share, and the early experiences they had as a child learning and exploring are where it all started for them.

What fun adventures will you go on this autumn and what part of the world have you been exploring that’s really opened your eyes recently?

First Rate Franchises

I love local businesses, do you? Of course I love seeing all the local businesses in my community, but I also love supporting businesses that are local to other communities too. I love the creativity, passion, personal stories, attention to detail and community connection that is found at the heart of most local businesses and the people who are involved in them. One type of local business are the franchises. These would be the coffee houses, fast food restaurants and even big box stores that many people can name and have in their own towns across the state, nation or even globe, but are managed or even owned by someone local to you, not just a group of people you couldn’t ever name and probably wouldn’t know them if you saw them either. The big benefit to shopping at a franchise store is that you’re able to be pretty confident that you’re going to get a product/services you’re familiar with and of the same quality that you’re used to, i.e. it’s not likely that your burger or coffee in New York will be completely different from your burger or coffee in Colorado when they’re purchased at the same franchise.

The big issue though that I have with franchises is that some get lazy, for lack of better term, and rely too much on the corporate brand instead of tapping into and working with their local communities. For example: if you have a local insurance or financial person or belong to a gym do they ever correspond with you? Do you see them on social media? Do you see them sponsoring kids sports teams or participating with school events? Do the coffee houses and restaurants have generic (brand) decorations and atmosphere or are they unique and show off the local community? Do they feature local specialties on the menu at all?

Is the brand the reason that the franchise does next to nothing community wise? Yes, sometimes it absolutely is because they’re too concerned about their brand image to trust that the people they’ve entrusted their brand to will do a good job so they put crazy limits on what the team can and can’t do as part of the franchise. But the example I always come back to is the fact that some of the big financial companies out there are willing to put out newsletters and post on social media about what’s going on in the financial world, and if they’re willing to do that, that sets a pretty high bar and lots of open opportunities for everyone else in my mind.

So if you’re a franchise owner, great! It’s a great decision for many people to make if they want to be in business but not do 100% of the work themselves. My encouragement to you would be that if you don’t want to be seen by your customers and community as just another location of that brand (and therefore nothing special), you find ways that you can participate in your community and in the lives of your customers. Maybe it will mean that you have to have some conversations with corporate to find a way to be able to do more and connect more, but it’s worth it when you have people coming in because you’re the store they want to shop at and you’re the place they feel at home. How does your franchise show up in your community and the lives of your community members?