Once more with feeling!

Whatever it is that you have just finished doing —from writing a plan or report to doing a trade or professional show, from introducing a new product or service to handling a difficult customer or investor or partner, or from juggling a tight schedule to finishing up a long-annoying project– can you take your next step with more feeling?

PASSION is inevitably the single most important ingredient in owning and operating a successful business –as it is, of course, in every square inch of marketing (sales, advertising, public and community relations, packaging, promotion, pricing, customer service, and building your Internet presence). And isn’t passion what separates success from failure in all of life?

In business, sports, the arts, and science the differences appear most dramatic because they are more easily measurable than, for example, relationships. Sales, bookings, test results, and win-loss records are pretty clear-cut compared to trying to size up the meaning of someone’s smirk or raised eyebrow or abrupt message. Hmmm, where is the foot pointed?

What took place during your most passionate life and career accomplishments? What snatched you victory from the hands of defeat? How, exactly, did you feel before, during, and after? What was the passion –spirit of performance– that you evidenced at those times? Was that ingredient somehow missing in whatever it is that you just finished doing?

If you answered yes, how did you choose to back off from what you know you’re capable of? Did you decide up front or during the process that it wasn’t worth feeling excited about? How did you choose to pursue it in the first place? So you engaged yourself in a task that wasn’t challenging or wasn’t making the best use of your time or skills?

If the answer is no, congratulations! What specific things did you do that brought you to the results you sought? How can you rally those resources to deliver repeat performances on other upcoming challenges? 

When you can step back after each “performance” to assess your level of passionate input, you are in a far better position to deliver a better performance than when you disregard what happened.

Second, and perhaps most important, is to repeatedly rattle your brain to realize that everything you bring to your performance table is a form of behavior, and (you guessed it!):

BEHAVIOR IS ALWAYS A CHOICE 

It may not always be conscious or evident or intended, but it is always a choice or the result of a choice. If you think about this a couple of times a day, you will almost certainly improve your life and business situations within a week or so. What have you got to lose . . . bad choices and poor performances? PASSION WINS!   

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Hal@Businessworks.US    302.933.0116