Value Yourself

Resolve to value yourself.

If you don't, you lessen yourself and reduce your value to others.

When you do, your true value soars.

Do not, except by choice:

- Work for nothing
- Do a job you hate
- Spend time with people who drag you down

Do, at every opportunity:

- Accept your true rewards
- Love what you are doing now
- Thrive in the company of those you love

And have a great life!

Roy

To My Surprise, it Sank

We all make wrong assumptions every day. Even when we have the evidence in front of us we easily come to a wrong conclusion - trusting our senses and our instincts. 

In fact we draw on past experience of patterns, connections and associations and then make an analogy with the current situation, but that's not important here.

Mostly, our assumptions are near enough and we just get on with life with no great harm done. 

But by being conscious of how easily we are fooled we can very often bring about massive improvements - in performance, results and even lifestyle and wealth. In business, trusting your instincts all the time will probably mean you perform no better than average.

If you want to do better you have to be better, starting with the assumptions you make and the testing you can and should be doing instead.

For example, you might assume you know who your average customer is and, because of that, you might not try to sell them anything that you think they wouldn't want to buy. But when did you become that omniscient?

There's a famous story of a door to door salesman being chased down the street by an irate householder because he'd assumed - from the state of the house and the old car in the drive - that they wouldn't be interested in what he was selling, and so hadn't knocked on their door, although he'd called at most of their neighbours: 

"Who are you to assume I can't afford it?" was the perfectly reasonable question.

One of the best ways to give your business a boost is to study very carefully the assumptions you're making about your market, your customers and even your own products and services, then challenge them.

Roy

PS. Even the most mundane jobs can make us think again. Today, I was washing up (doing the dishes) when I was surprised to notice that the plastic mixing spoon I was washing sank to the bottom of the bowl, when I'd expected it to float, while an apparently heavier hard plastic chopping board did the opposite - floated when it 'should' have sunk. And I do know about the law of floatation, by the way! 

Even with the evidence of seeing and holding both objects, my senses had deceived me. Only testing gave me the truth.

The Solution for More and More People is...

Losing your job can never be a nice experience, and for many people it's a major blow to their confidence and self esteem.

If you've been hit by redundancy, 'downsizing' or 'rationalisation', or you've been 'let go', you won't need me to tell you how much it hurts.

But every change in circumstances is an opportunity to start afresh. Not having a job means that what you do next is up to you. And more and more people are choosing to take the opportunity to do something entirely new. For increasing numbers of people, that means striking out on their own.

Can you do the same? Is there something you enjoy, are good at (or can learn to be good at), and that people will pay for?

Maybe that's your business, right there. And maybe you should at least give it a go.

Roy

PS. That's how I started Flatpack Assembly Suffolk. Not that I have a real passion for flat-pack furniture, but I knew I could do it, I sensed there was a demand, and I gave it a go in my spare time. It worked - and almost two years later, the business is still running and making money. It's also up for sale, but only because I'm leaving the area.

Religion and Politics

Received wisdom says that the two subjects you must never raise with anyone you don't know well, and especially with potential customers and clients, are religion and politics.

Specifically, you mustn't reveal your own religious and political opinions. Even friends stay clear of these subjects for fear of spoiling their friendship.

Well, for a corporation wanting to appeal to the maximum number of people by offending no one, that might be good advice. For a family wishing to keep relations harmonious against the odds, glossing over differences might be wise. For friends who agree (or agree to disagree) about most things, not airing their differences is probably a good idea.

But can you imagine a political party not mentioning politics?. Granted, politicians have been known to skirt issues to get themselves elected, but the main objective is to attract supporters who agree with them and repel the people who disagree. Having clear opinions and policies and telling people what they are is the only way to polarise opinion in this way. The politicians with the strongest following are always those who polarise opinion.

Likewise, a church needs to be clear about the beliefs it represents. Again, this might be fudged to appeal to the masses, but that kind of support is transient and insincere.

The same principles can apply in your business, especially if you're in a business that involves relationships with real people. If you don't project the real you, how will you attract the kind of people you want to spend your time with? If you sell widgets you probably don't care too much who you sell them to (although you might sell more at higher prices if you concentrated on promoting them to obsessive widget fanciers).

But any business where you're expected to spend time dealing with customers or clients will be a lot more fun when you only have to deal with people who either agree with, or can agree to disagree with, you.

So; my religion and politics?

Atheist and liberal. Feel free to discuss!

Roy