Morning Motivator – Competition or Motivation?

"The key is to make mistakes faster than the competition, so you have more changes to learn and win."
- John W. Holt Jr.

Competition is healthy… or so they say.  It is believed that competition INSPIRES creativity, discover and leadership.  I contest that competition only inspires one thing... MOTIVATION.

When you get you're a$$ kicked in a soccer game as a kid, what happens?  After you finish crying and pouting, you go outside and start PRACTICING!  When you lose a big deal to your arch nemesis, you bitch and moan in the car, then go back and examine your process and pricing.  In both scenarios, when you lose to your competition, you FIND the motivation to GET BETTER!

We often hear the stories of the old business owner, fat and happy, dominating his marketplace (can you say BlackBerry?) until the new kid shows up and kicks their face in (Apple iPhone).  COMPLACENCY, or a total LACK of motivation, is what occurs when there is limited competition.  When you have nothing to MOTIVATE you to do better… well, why would you?  (See: US welfare system)

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
The INTERESTING thing about the idea of COMPETITION vs. MOTIVATION is that you do not need a "true" competitor to find the motivation for bettering yourself.  You can "compete" against yourself by creating timelines and measurements for your personal achievement.  By setting personal achievement goals, you are able to create the "motivation" found via "competition."

If you need a "real' competitor to help you get laser focused then look to join a peer group.  Find people that share your values, even if in unrelated businesses, and pit your ability to achieve goals against one another.  Up the ante and throw a $100 per person in a pot to be awarded to the person that achieves their goals FIRST!  Would you pay $100 to be a SUPERSTAR this month?

Most competition is "smoke and mirrors."  Most "competitors" are not REAL competition (some do not even know you exist).  Find a way to MOTIVATE yourself and if you cannot, do not create a competitor, find one that you can battle against in a POSITIVE way (peer group).  At the end of the day, you are competing against yourself… and when you finally start WINNING, all the people you seek, as clients, will start flocking to you!

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator – To MBA or not to MBA?

"I want to get my MBA.  What'cha think?"
- Anonymous

I am often asked or people ask in general the thoughts of others regarding attaining a MBA.  Being that I am mildly OPINIONATED, I never cower at the opportunity to share my thoughts.

When considering an ADVANCED education, one must consider what the PURPOSE of it is to achieve.  Is it for the advancement of PERSONAL understanding?  Is it for the purposes of acquiring a BETTER job?  Is it due to pressures to ACCOMPLISH something during a stagnant time your life?  These are all valid reasons if they are valuable to your needs.

A MBA is an interesting degree though.  Unlike a CPA, RN, MD or JD, it is NOT specialized.  It is not a degree that separates you from others in the business world.  A nurse cannot be a doctor, an accounting employee cannot serve as a CPA does and a law clerk cannot practice law as an attorney can.  The MBA, while a valuable education in business, is just a DEEPER dive into general business.

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
Some people may be pissed at me.  I understand your anger.  Let me say this though.  A degree is as VALUABLE as you MAKE IT!!  You can get a JD and be a total waste of space.  Plenty of people graduate with medical degrees that NEVER become practicing physicians.  There is GARBAGE in every group.

If you feel CONFIDENT you can leverage your MBA to better your business or standing professionally – GO FOR IT!  If you think it is a magic bullet for SUCCESS… good luck!

The fact of the matter is you are already EXCEPTIONAL at some aspect of business, whether that is marketing, finance, operations or client relations.  So why study more on what you already know?  Why not go get your CPA and know the numbers inside out or your JD and understand the legality through and through?  It may prove better to spend your MBA money starting a business, because as any entrepreneur will tell you, "the best way to learn is by doing!"

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator – Take What the Defense Will Give You

"To the man who only has a hammer, everything he encounters begins to look like a nail."
- Abraham Maslow

Is not a big secret that I LOVE sports.  I find that sporting analogies provide EXCEPTIONAL relative situations to that of business.  One in particular is the idea of ADAPTABILITY.  In sports terms, "taking what the defense will give you."  Let me explain…

In sports, there is always a weak point in a defense, whether it is a gap, a slow or injured player or just a lack of belief that the offense can move the ball into a certain position or area.  There is ALWAYS somewhere to attack offensively with a greater ease than other areas.  The same is TRUE in business.

As business people, we often focus solely on the one thing we know and instead of being adaptive; we try to "hammer a bolt into steel."  Just because you know the hammer best does not mean it will work.  Clients have many needs.  Some easier to identify than others.  Some relate to your service or product, some do not.  Yet, there is ALWAYS a need!

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
What if you were able to SOLVE the needs of a client, even if it was not with your product or service?  Do you think that they would be more WILLING to listen to how you believe your product or service can aid them?

Solving the challenges of others creates LOYALTY and TRUST.  These are two of the most, if not the only two, important characteristics of a GREAT client.  A client that will BUY at a premium, REFER consistently and LISTEN, rather than speak.  Sounds like a pretty good client, huh?

If you are a technology provider and find that your client needs a new commercial property, rather than try to sell a new server, why not help them solve the property issue FIRST?  Them once the big nasty problem (or so they believe) is out of the way, you will have EARNED the right to solve all their needs, manage their entire network and ask a price that is above that of the other IT guys that SAT BACK and WATCHED. 

That is how you win… by taking what the defense will give you (until you can strike where you need to)!

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator – Perfect is Ruining Your Success

"The perfect is the enemy of the good."
- Voltaire

Running a sports league has taught me many things.  One that stands out most is that my PURSUIT of perfection is probably getting in the way of our ability to deliver a good, if not great, product.

Why would someone that runs a business ADMIT to that?  Well, because it is true and I would rather people see me as a real person, trying to make a great league, than a dictator that hides behind some GUISE of being "all knowing."  I could lie, but everyone will see right through that… (hint, to our politicians)

Each day, if you are like me, you have the "idea" of an ideal day.  The perfect execution and RESULTS from the ideal actions and timing.  Ha ha ha… what a FARCE!  Do you really think that PERFECT is possible?  It is not.  There is CLOSE, but there will always be better.  There is always room for improvement, room for growth.  So why measure yourself against a basis that is not ACHIEVABLE?

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
When is good "good enough?"  When can you ACCEPT that your best effort and dedication to improving is the BEST you can do?  WHOM are you even measuring against?

These are real questions, which must be answered.  We often MEASURE ourselves against what we "think" others are doing.  We have no FOUNDATION for that thought, rather, we rationalize (or irrationalize) what we believe to be the truth.  If you want to really know where you stand amongst your peers, join a peer group.

If you need to know when you are getting in the way of your own success (i.e. trying to be perfect when good is what people want), then you need a mentor or a peer council that can help stay focused.  Sure, you should ALWAYS be seeking better and more, but, do not let your vision become blurry as you pursue the WRONG targets with the RIGHT vigor.

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator – Stop with Excuses

"The day you take complete responsibility for yourself, the day you stop making any excuses, that's the day you start to the top."
- Unknown

There is something you have NOT completed, and you know exactly what it is.  Sure, you have many reasons, but, they are all EXCUSES.  There is ALWAYS a way to get it done… it is just a matter of how bad you want it, right?

Week after week, we "talk" about the things we WANT.  We discuss the details of what we would do "if."  Still, we do nothing.  Some of us have been sitting on ideas or dreams for years, awaiting some detail whether it is money, time, connections, etc.

What REASON is truly valid for not doing something?  When can you say, with full candor, that you are INCAPABLE at this time of doing ANYTHING to accomplish the goal or dream that you have?

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
There are really no excuses.  Don't have enough money?  Get a loan or an investor.  Don't have the right connections?  That's easy!  Go meet the people you need to know.  Don't have enough time?  Focus on the pieces that are achievable with your time and OUTSOURCE the rest!

I sure do make it sound EASY, huh?  Sure.  It seems easy but it is not.  That is what either makes it WORTH DOING or worth giving up.  If it is a VALID dream and desire – then the EXTRA efforts are really just minute in the scale of value.  If they seem INSURMOUNTABLE, then it would appear that you dream is more of a fantasy and less valuable than you are willing to pursue.

There are ALWAYS ways to get something done.  You may not even SEE the way yet, but, it is there.  You can always use your connections and political affiliations to find someone that has some way of getting something done to help you meet your goal.  Do not do it ALONE!  You have friends… use them!

After all, everyone wants to help… and hates hearing EXCUSES!

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

:: past morning motivators ::