Last night a good friend of mine lost his job. He asked me what he should do next. Of course I said "Read my book." I knew he already had a copy, so buying the book wasn't a problem. Buying the book isn't the best business improvement program for $200, but it might be the best one for $15 even if the cover is goofy. (A free signed copy to anyone with a better cover idea that I use.)Losing a job can be an amazing experience and opportunity if you look at it the right way. He did. He hadn't read the book, but he did skip ahead to the next book which I haven't even written yet. He just knew what to do because we have worked together for a long time and he knows how I think. I think everyone should act like they are their own business.
What I am going to give you today is the best trick I have learned in helping people improve both their personal life and business life. If you hire me to work with you on this it is going to be thousands of dollars, and I am giving it to you free. Why? Let's be honest, if it works for you and your business grows, I hope you'll hire me as your virtual Chief Marketing Officer or The Bourquin Group as your online marketing agency and SEO
So, Now What? is the book I wrote to help people who lost their jobs find a better life and move on. As the country song goes "If you are going through hell keep on going....you might get out before the devil even knows your there..." When you lose your job or business, regaining focus to move forward can be tough.
Another friend is going through a rough divorce. The rules are the same. At the end of the day, you have to know the answer to the question "Who do you want to be?".
What does all of this have to do with the best $200 business improvement ever? A lot really, and no I am not going to sell you a class or an e-book or anything else for $200. This IS the class. If you want my help it will cost a lot more than $200, but I think you'll get this pretty quickly. The trick is to do it.
When I closed my last business, it was a very difficult decision that was long overdue. Like most difficult decisions, I put it off way to long and took counsel from other people who would not benefit if I closed the business like my banker and my landlord. Both great people but they stood to lose if I closed so their advice was likely a bit skewed. Because I had delayed the decision, the closing was longer and more painful that it should have been.
My friend knew almost a year ago he was going to lose his job, I know this because he started calling me about it a year ago. Instead of getting a new one then, he waited. My friend going through the divorce, same deal. They both saw it coming and kept saying "I'll deal with it later." Now later is here for both of them.
The first lesson, make tough decisions early.
Now the meat of the $200 business improvement program. Simply put, I went through all of the steps in my book to define who I wanted to be in 5 years. It included where I wanted to live, what I wanted to be doing, and how often I would do it. My wife was a big part of the process. We all need another set of eyes to keep us honest. That is what a good lieutenant in the military and in business does. If you don't have one, hire one. I do have an opening or two this year.
The process is so simple I don't want you to laugh it off or skip it. Step one, go to a home store and buy a 4'x8' sheet of smooth shower panel. This is the biggest and cheapest white board you can find. If it won't fit in your car, the whiteboard paint is ok, but the drying time allows for distractions.
Option 2 is to go to the office store or warehouse store and buy the biggest whiteboard and pen set that will fit into your car. The minute you get home hang it up, anywhere. The more public the better. You need the confidence to stand behind whatever you write.
I have seen guys do this in their garage, office, family room and now even a kitchen. The next step is to write your mission across the top. Your mission is your personal passion and purpose. the reason we are using a white board, is the more stuff you put on it, the clearer the picture gets. You might want to change the wording of your mission several times. If you already have a business, you will be amazed as how effective this simple exercise is. If you are building a business, even better, you are starting off in the right direction from day one.
After the mission statement, a one or two line simple and focused statement like "Helping business owners build a better business", the work begins. I started with that mission statement because I realized it is what people really wanted from me. They didn't buy home theaters from be because I was a THX and CEDIA certified guy, they bought because they wanted to talk to me about their business. I'll let you in on a secret here, I do this exercise with all of my marketing clients, they just don't realize it.
The last time I started this I was living in Texas, miles from the beach. I tell you this so you can see how different my perspective was at the time.
Writing on the write board, I used red for things I didn't want in my business like "late payments" or "work before 9 am" so I could surf. Surfing in the Morning was in blue. I used blue for things I wanted and green for things that made money. Because my life and my business are so intertwined, everything went on this board with my wife Kelly sitting right there.
At first she laughed a little, then she walked away and came back with a glass of wine to watch and humor me. Eventually she did pipe up and start erasing things that just weren't going to happen like "Own a 50' motor boat". She knew that I just won't waste that much fuel to go fishing, and a sail boat was more likely. At the end of the day, we both agreed, I am a car guy, and an airplane guy, and renting boats was the way to go.
After two hours the whiteboard was full, I mean completely full. Regrettably, I didn't take a picture to share with you. With a full whiteboard, this is the most important step, housecleaning. Now it was time to prioritize and expand the different areas. For instance, "ride bike on beach" linked and expanded two things. It meant I needed a bike, and a new home within bike riding distance of a beach with a bike path.
It didn't take long to see which things were inconsistent with the overall picture and just erase them or change them to red. Within just a few hours I had a completely different understanding of my life and my business. It felt good. I felt relieved, because suddenly this incredible life I wanted didn't appear that difficult to achieve.
The whiteboard clearly outlined areas in my life that were not moving me forward in any way. These areas in red where the things I had to start saying "no" to. Every business has activities and products that take way to much time and effort for the benefit to the customer and the business and yet as owners we don't know how to say "no".
The other end was all the blue and green writing I hadn't given enough thought too. Areas of my life that I enjoyed, people were asking for, and I wasn't doing much of.
Every day I took a look at the whiteboard and distilled it down to a pocket card of the 10 biggest priorities and goals in my life. The implied one that isn't written is to maintain a great relationship with my wife. There is a copy of my pocket card on my sock drawer so I look at it every day.
When you look at something every day, one of two things happens. You hunger for it and start going that way, or you realize it isn't that important and you erase it. The more you do this, the easier life feels, the more time you have and you learn to waste less time and money getting there.
Today my white board is only 20"x30" and has a cork frame around the edge to hang notes, calendars or tickets to events. The left side is my daily "to do" list which I commit to the day prior to prevent "pop ups" and "while you're at it's" from getting in the way of finishing my list every day.That was round one, and everything has been going great for the last 24 months. The was a major flaw in my perfect plan though. The entire exercise was centered around my life and I didn't really include my wife Kelly the way I should have. Fortunately, when we did her white board exercise, much of our lives overlapped. If you can't find enough overlap, you have two choices, give up your dreams, or divorce.
Your spouse or partner is the single most important element of success in your life after you. You need to support them, they need to support you and your lives must overlap to have any chance of success together.
Last Friday, the first phase of my wife's white board exercise was complete. She received her license number as a Real Estate agent and selected a Coldwell Banker office to associate with.
What is on your whiteboard of success? Don't have one? Go Buy One Today!
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Thank you for your insights.