by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
What would you say about a business owner who said these kinds of things about his occupation?
You say your job is like "mopping the floor" and "cleaning up the mess."
You complain that what you do is "confining" and "frustrating".
You moan and groan that "nothing beats a day where I can make an escape, I break out."
You whine about how difficult your challenges are because "I'll be honest with you. This is really hard."
What would your opinion be of such a person and his chances for success? Would you want to be around this person, to emulate that negativity? Would you want your children to grow up ready, willing and able at the drop of a hat to ladle out such lamentations and self pity by the bucket, like the man who spouted these telling, quoted words?
That man is the President of the United States, Barrack Obama, the pampered resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. The man with the biggest, most important job in the world... a man whose golden prize offers immeasurable possibilities for transforming lives... but seems to give him no joy at all.
Seen a photo of the president lately? His lips are pursed, brow furrowed and intent, the body language contained, controlled, the famous "don't touch me" quality, smiles cool, fleeting, and unbelievable. Is it any surprise his presidential ratings have dropped like a stone? We all want to like him... but it's becoming increasingly difficult because he doesn't seem to want to like us... "the people" he is there to serve, inspire, motivate, and enhance.
Do you approach your business looking like you were weaned on a pickle?
It was the irrepressible Alice Roosevelt Longworth, daughter of a president, married to a speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, who nailed Calvin Coolidge forever more, declaring he looked like a man weaned on a pickle. Coolidge, too, was the master of frosty distances and the laconic. Again, it was just so hard to like him!
Is that you? Do you bring everything to the table except the one thing that trumps all the others: joy! Then you are hurting your business, your fortune, and to a certitude, yourself.
Start with Robert Burns, perceive yourself
In his celebrated poem "To a louse" , Burns writes of a young woman coming to the kirk inappropriately dressed to kill, preening and posturing, little sensing she is also showing off a louse, lazily trespassing her over-combed locks. This sight, and Burns' poetic talents, turn this incident into stunning insight:
"O would some Power the gift to give us To see ourselves as others see us! It would from many a blunder free us, And foolish notion:"
The first thing to do is review yourself "warts and all", to see yourself as others see you. Is there a business person in the world who actually wants to be a person putting off others, the very people whose respect and admiration he should be doing everything to garner and maintain?
Evolving into a person whose joy is manifest in all aspects of her job means undertaking a self-scrutiny which must be honest, candid, stark, and unyielding. After all, you may well find one painful trait after another and must be ready to see them as in a spotlight.
Walk yourself through a day in your life
Your model here is Frank Capra's ever relevant classic film "It's A Wonderful Life", where a man is forced to see himself as he is and see how many lives he has touched. It's a good beginning for your own self tour.
Start with your smile
A smile doesn't mean all is well. It is not some cosmetic to mask reality. Rather, it is a statement that, whatever else is going on, bad, even catastrophic, you intend to be a beacon of welcome, someone striving to lighten the load for others, not to contribute to it by your gloomy visage and off-putting demeanor. In others words, you intend to make a heartfelt difference, one smile at a time. Each smile is a sign of possibilities, unlike a frown, scowl or evident disapproval which is a door shut and locked in the face of all who unhappily come across you.
Do you welcome your customers... or merely (and inadequately) acknowledge them?
Watch yourself as you perform your daily customer contacts. Are you easing the way for others with a manner congenial and forthcoming? Even the great French King Louis XIV, master of the greatest of kingdoms, used always to doff his bonnet with celerity and style to EVERY woman he encountered, be she serving wench or marquise.
Count the moans, groans, whines and all the renditions of "poor little me" in a single day
As is clear from his quoted remarks above, President Obama, is a man with an unflattering tendency to invite folks to feel sorry for him. Him! President of these United States! Him! Waited on everywhere he goes... with access to the world... flattered... consulted... revered... deferred to. Rich, powerful, caressed, cosseted to a degree we can only imagine... yet wanting us to feel sorry for "poor little me", whose job is so hard, so demanding, so limiting. Come on!
Your customers want what we want from our chief executives: the power of potential; a feeling that here, right in front of us, we have a person of care, empathy, concern, and sincere interest; a person who enthuses us about the road to come, difficult yes, challenging to be sure, but replete with possibilities for all. Is that how you approach your customers, as a person of possibilities, an empowerer, for whom the glass is always half full, not discouragingly half empty? With whom do you think your customers want to do business?
Joy the sine qua non
It takes many things to be a business success, conjuring sales and profits wherever you go; products of value, excellent personnel, offers that cause folks to pause in their tracks. ALL are necessary. But no single factor is as important as the joy you bring to your job, because that joy will inspire all and ensure success. Joy enables and empowers. It attracts and motivates. It takes the difficult and transforms it into the wished for future. It is your gift to the world... and to yourself.
About The Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., where small and home-based businesses learn how to profit online. Attend Dr. Lant's live webcast TODAY and receive 50,000 free guaranteed visitors to the website of your choice! Republished with author's permission by David Lockwood <a href="http://mysmarthomebusiness.com%22%3ehttp//MySmartHomeBusiness.com%3C/a>. Check out The Clickbank Code -> http://www.MySmartHomeBusiness.com/?rd=qe5rpYJk
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