I conversed with several friends and colleagues about business and life this week. The topic pointed along the lines of how many people go through life merely existing, and how this also translates to business.
It is a great pleasure to go through life serving society with a talent, skill, or product. Owning a business allows someone to revel in that feeling, but often people in talent based industries, just "exist."
How many people in our daily lives do we associate with, come across as just "breathing and eating"? No sizzle, or pizzaz about them.
Life, business, even relationships, are like trees. They need to grow. When they stop growing they stagnate and begin to degenerate and die.
Lets take Wedding Photography for instance. Many wedding photographers photograph weddings, STRICTLY for the financial reward. They do not assist brides, or grooms, in one of the most special and life changing days of their life. These photographers often set a price point and stay there, and shoot to their heart's content. Often, it doesn't usually matter if they are charging; $500 or $5,000, they set a number and that's their goal. When they reach the goal, they don't know what to do to get to the next level, because they never imagined a "next level."
We should sometimes focus on the process and how to continuously improve it. In 'the accidental millionaire,' world-famous wedding photographer, Gary Fong recalls seeing a bumper sticker saying: SINCE I GAVE UP HOPE, I FEEL MUCH BETTER. The inference is not that hope is a "bad" thing, instead it infers that HOPE is an expectation, and expectations often lead to disappointment. Instead we should focus more on the process.
For example, if I wanted to drive from Jacksonville, Florida to Los Angeles, California; I need to do more than just jump in my car and go! I must have a plan, a process that takes in account money needed, gas stops, hotels, etc. I need more than just, "Hop on I-10 and keep on going till you see water." If I just "hoped" to get to California, I might end up "HOPING" not getting mugged on the side of the road because I ran out of gas.
In business and life we should have a road map or plan. Something that takes into account GROWTH. The objectives and goals should be measurable and obtainable, but should also have a way to focus on the process of achieving those goals.
Maybe today's blog is more of a ramble than a rant. The goal is to help those around me realize that there is so much more to them than they are capable for, but often we need to get out of that comfort zone. This blog is only part of the process...the aim is to reach 1.
I would like at least one person to take away that it is not as important to have a goal to book 500 weddings a year, as much as it is to have a process that will have you increase in capacity to support booking 500 weddings.
Who knows, you might end up booking a thousand!
