In his book, The Difference Maker, author John C. Maxwell makes this statement: “Most people want to change the world to improve their lives, but the world they need to change first is the one inside themselves. That is a choice—one that some are not willing to make.” A big part of being a leader is recognizing that you must be willing to make changes inside first. Our attitudes really are the “mind’s paintbrush”—they “color every aspect of our lives.” As entrepreneurs and business owners, your attitude impacts the attitudes of everyone around you— especially those on your team whom you interact with everyday. Every market is a little bit different, but the essentials of what makes a business work are the same. It is easy to wish you were in someone else’s market or selling as many products as a friend of yours is (especially now). But as Dr. Maxwell points out, “the happiest people in life don’t necessarily have the best of everything. They just try to make the best of everything.” This is the mark of a true leader. You make the best of everything you have right where you are and look for ways to expand your opportunities.
Maxwell points out in The Difference Maker that there are five obstacles to having the right type of attitude in each situation. He identifies these as: discouragement, change, problems, fear, and failure. One of my favorite statements in the book is this: “When you face discouragement, you can do one of two things, and the one you choose will color your perspective. You can look at others to place the blame, or you can look at yourself to discover your opportunities.” What opportunities are around you every day that you could take advantage of to help your business grow and be more successful? As someone once said, “To hatch despair, brood over your troubles.”
It is so critical that we focus on our opportunities instead of looking to blame others for why we aren’t where we want to be. When we encounter problems, we can see them as “wake-up calls for creativity.” We can look to find ways to capitalize on these challenges and become better instead of bitter. I love this statement in the book, “Every problem has many solutions, and no problem can stand the assault of sustained thinking.” Pull together your resources and look to find solutions to the challenges you are facing in your business as you emerge from the COVID-19 quarantine. I love what John Foster Dulles, who was the secretary of state in the Eisenhower administration, once said: “The measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it is the same problem you had last year.” Take some time to think about what obstacles are holding you back.
Now, that you are re-opening your business, consider what you need to do now. Do you have a plan to help you achieve more sales in the upcoming months? Do you have a comprehensive marketing calendar and outline and way to attract more prospects into your business? We can all do better at looking to find new opportunities instead of getting bogged down by yesterday’s problems. In addition to shifting the way you view the world and your business,
it is critically important to continually grow and improve yourself. No matter where any of us are in life or in business, there is always room for growth and improvement. In their book, The Laws of Lifetime Growth, authors Dan Sullivan and Catherine Nomura offer ten simple laws that will help you continue to grow throughout your life. By living according to these laws, you will ensure that you maintain a fresh, innovative perspective on the world around you.
As Sullivan and Nomura point out: “Growth is a fundamental desire of all human beings. No matter what kinds of goals you have or what you strive for, whatever you want to see in your life that’s not there now is about growth. Growth is at the root of everything that gives us a feeling of accomplishment, satisfaction, meaning, and progress…. The laws in this book are like mirrors you can use to reflect your behavior, to see if it’s supporting or undermining your continued growth.” The ten laws outlined and explained in the book are:
1. Always make your future bigger than your past.
2. Always make your learning greater than your experience.
3. Always make your contribution bigger than your reward.
4. Always make your performance greater than your applause.
5. Always make your gratitude greater than your success.
6. Always make your enjoyment greater than your effort.
7. Always make your cooperation greater than your status.
8. Always make your confidence greater than your comfort.
9. Always make your purpose greater than money.
10. Always make your questions bigger than your answers.
By aligning yourself with these laws you can grow and improve. As a leader, you should put together and implement your own personal growth program and be the difference maker in the world around you.
You can get The Difference Maker on Amazon.com by clicking on the title to the left or on the image of the book below:
