Josh Richards "jrichard"

When I started this post it was, initially, entitled my THREE biggest business mistakes. Then it got longer, more occurring to me as I typed. There are many more but I decided to limit it to the six that stayed top of mind, figuring they were probably the most important (thus far), and that I view as also being highly relevant to other folks.

So here they are:

1. Assuming that what others are doing, who are seemingly successful, is the best way. Studying the competition is one thing. But the best path to take is usually based on a mixture of creative ideas of your own and those stolen from other completely unrelated industries. Study the competition to be different from them and to spot the gaps.
2. Listening to and considering advice from folks who, while well meaning, have absolutely no idea, credentials, or background in where I was headed. Even those in the same business do not warrant serious consideration unless they are on the same plane that you aspire too. For example, if you desire to be wealthy don't take advice from those who are not wealthy, even if they have your best interests at heart and sound savvy. This also means most talking heads on the television and reporters in general are not the best sources of wisdom. (Though they, or rather those they report on, may be good leads as to who to actually to listen to, talk to, read about, etc. yourself). Ultimately you have to make your own judgments regarding sources of advice. I spend a lot of time figuring out how to discover who to listen to on particular topics so that I can spend less time listening to noise from others who aren't truly helpful or, worse, are spouting B.S.
   
3. Not focusing. Once I had narrowed down who I was going to draw inspiration from, there came a point where I should have stopped looking for external inspiration and started applying my new found capabilities and knowledge gleaned from all that studying of other successful folks. Yes, the additional study of systems that had worked for others was beneficial (and continues to be, as I keep up that studying every day). There is no clear "starting line" but at some point I realized that for all the good stuff I was learning for the future I was also to a point where I could do plenty with what I had if only I got to work applying it.
   
4. Thinking that marketing (mostly) meant advertising (and also, in part, being cynical about advertising and sales). Marketing IS the business. And I don't mean that statement in the way I might have interpreted it before I knew what I know now. Combined with cynicism I might have written that statement off. But marketing is about everything: the features, the products, the service, the positioning, pricing, every interaction, etc. In fact, there is not one thing that you could name in any organization that isn't about marketing. Nada.
   
5. Not studying direct response marketing earlier. Holy crap. If you think good marketing and advertising is about pleasing and artistic advertisements, headlines that are a "play on words" in an attempt to sound cute, and winning awards than you are, worst case, a sitting duck waiting for competition to stomp you. Best case: you are spending money on marketing without any idea what is working and what isn't... and thus no measurable ROI or means to improve it over time (which still means you're a sitting duck: for a savvy competitor who understands direct response to blow you out of the water even as you boost your marketing spending). Effective advertising and promotion does not flow from the hands of graphics designers anymore than a professional baseball player's home run is the result of the guy who mows the grass at the stadium. You may argue it plays a role, and that may technically be true, but there are far bigger factors at work that should be focused on first.
   
6. Under-appreciating the importance of mindset. I am not just talking about positive thinking here. I'm talking about feelings about money, success, being wealth, not following the herd, questioning the status-quo, etc. And things like who you hang around with, focusing on results/outcomes over tasks, etc.. A lot of this stuff is sub-conscious or invisible until you start really learning about it so you can recognize it. It's even more difficult to spot because the majority of folks are oblivious to it. You can be ambitious as hell and still fail to reach your goals if your mindset is off-base.
   

That's all for now. I'm sure there will be to discuss another day. Perhaps a few folks out there will find this post helpful.

-jr

The single greatest opportunity for your business to prosper (yes, even now) awaits... are you blowing it?

Dramatic changes in economic sentiment and wholesale rewrites of entire industry structures leave a lot of chaos in their wake. That chaos is, for most of us, uncomfortable. For some it is very negative, dramatically changing the course of their lives, while for others it only leaves them confused and uncertain but otherwise relatively unscathed (when viewed objectively).

The gravest mistake I see, in businesses which are otherwise perfectly reasonable ones to be in still, is too much of an inward focus. Businesses do not exist to and will never prosper when they focus on themselves. Your business exists to create value for your customers. In both good times and bad there are customers for all manner of products and services.

You may need to tweak your present offerings. Or reach out to your customers in ways that you have not had to in the past. You may need to connect with them in ways that are relevant to the conversations they are already having in their minds.

In some cases, depending on what your value add to the world is, that may mean reminding them about what's going on while giving them a different perspective on the situation. In other cases your job may actually be to save them from all the doom and gloom.... by helping them escape from it even if it is just for a brief bit of time. Only your own capabilities intersecting with your chosen customers can determine where on the spectrum your positioning should fall.

The single greatest corollary of the above also presents business owners with a tremendous opportunity. It is one of the most ubiquitous yet largely untapped opportunities to be seen in a long time. It spans across industries, has nothing to do with technology, and hits at the core of what successful businesses should already - and always - be doing anyhow: connecting with and adding value to their customers lives.

This is always a goal, of any business. Yet, especially in so-called "good times", it is easy to get complacent and simply focus on what is in front of you, what is handed to you -- on the customers that just seem to fall into your lap.

But there are always more customers out there. In good times you are leaving a lot on the table but just don't realize it. And in bad times you want a larger share of what is normally left behind.

The key is to get your marketing, relationship building, product, service, and offer development efforts, and other keys to value adding aligned. By doing this in good times as well as bad times, natural business cycles flatten out more and even under very poor economic conditions things are bearable.

The point being that those who are able to not be paralyzed by recent economic turmoil and use it as an opportunity to build a stronger foundation for their businesses will also be more profitable in good times. Survival is important and prospering remains possible with the right foundation.

The world has not ended. It has simply changed albeit dramatically (at least on the short time spans most of us view things under).

Get moving. But hurry... you're running out of time to capitalize on this opportunity!

-jr

"Downturn my ass; they had no strategy to begin with."

Lots of businesses are suffering these days. I feel for 'em, I really do.

What frustrates me though is that many have tremendous opportunities ahead... if only their owners would stop using the economy as a convenient way to avoid the truth (I'm sure you can come up with your own appropriate metaphor for this behavior). Downturns offer great opportunities for those businesses which are willing to face the truth and ask the tough questions that propel them forward.

A very agreeable phrase that I ran across awhile back[1] goes something like this:

"Luck is when opportunity crosses paths with preparation."

It's relevant to present circumstances, even if many would consider these unlucky times...

Let's take almost every local retail type business which I encounter. Based on observation, as a customer of many of them no less, the root cause is that they never had a plan for success to begin with. Their existence rested far too much on the opportunity portion and not enough on the preparation aspect.... of luck.

In short: their business models, being entirely reactive and not proactive, leave them (seemingly) powerless when(ever) the tide turns against them.

Recent economy woes are really just the final straws.

I can prove it.

To have sustainability the business owner must take deliberate action. And opening up the doors and putting up a sign... even having a good product or service... is not what I mean by deliberate. Nor is dropping yet another "me too" advertisement in the local paper or Yellow Pages.

(And if the only solution they can come up with is dropping prices, it just proves the point that our relationship could use some upkeep... on their part not mine; I'm the customer after all).

Maybe they intended to do more but found they didn't have to so they got complacent. Or maybe they've only existed in "good times" and never even realized they were missing something. Maybe they just barely skated by before and recent times has just proven how thin the ice was underneath them.

Whatever. The reason is irrelevant. What's important is that they get moving. (After all, with fewer customers, they ought to have more time on their hands). Some may also have to put their fragile egos aside... (a small price to pay for long-term success).

It's been said that great friends are ones that will empathize with you while also kicking you in the ass with the cold hard truth when you need to hear it.

So I have some questions for you...

• Why aren't you collecting my name, e-mail addy, phone number, snail-mail address?
• Why aren't you doing something compelling and useful with those "frequent customer" cards my wallet is bulging with?
• When was the last time you went out of your way to communicate with me outside of your store?
• Why aren't you trying to up-sell/cross-promote me something else that I might also find of interest?
  
• Translate "why you went into business" into something along the lines of "what's in it for me" and tell me all about it
  
• Why haven't you come up with a way to encourage me to bring in my friends to your establishment?
• Ask me what I like about you establishment. Ask me what I don't like about your establishment. (Make me feel like you actually want me to be honest and not just "nice").
• If I start coming in less often, reach out to me, so that I perceive that you actually noticed...
• Why aren't you trying to sell me your products and services in different ways that may be more conducive to my current concerns, pains, and desires? (a hint: it's not as simple as just lowering prices... in fact if you play your cards right you can keep your margins... maybe even boost 'em)
  

I'm already your customer for crying out loud! Make me buy more, come in more often, and drag in my friends. Make me compelling offers...some of which I won't be able to refuse. Reach out to me in interesting ways... that show me you care about me more than wallowing in your "woe is me" attitude.

Yes, it seems that many places are suffering. It's too bad that economic woes are just a cover for the real cause of weakness in many businesses today: a lack of preparation.

Sure, sometimes one can scoot by but look where it gets you?

Whenever I have a client who seems to be treating symptoms and not the underlying problem I try my best to guide them back to reality. So, if you (or someone you know) falls into the aforementioned camp I leave you with this...

It's not (just) the economy, stupid. Get off your butt, stop lying to yourself and your friends to avoid a bruised ago, and do something about it. (Then, if it'll make you feel more motivated, consider how you'll be able to brag about how you kicked ass through the latest business cycle).

To change things you first must face the truth...

-jr

Footnotes:

[1] Another one, this one coined by Warren Buffett is: "After all, you only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out". Stated shortly after September 11, 2001, he was referring to insurers who had failed to price policies properly (too low), certainly weren't prepared for the worst and thus were suffering mightily - some fatally. It's an appropriate metaphor for many recurring situations in history - and thus in business and in life.

A lot of IT folks consider themselves to be a far cry from the marketing and sales departments. I have news for them: Get over it.

Within the IT department the toughest problems, the ones that can really have an impact on the organization, are not about technology. Successful IT leader's recognize this and figure out how to connect the IT group with real business needs of the organization. I hit on this a little over a year ago in "Can Technology Geeks Be (Good) Managers?".

But it's not as simple as it may sound.

This is about marketing and sales, even if the IT group's customers are in-house end-users. The essence of marketing, which includes finding out what is really needed/desired by a constituency and then figuring how to give it to 'em, is the essence of the IT department's mission too.

But a lot of marketers fail. And even enlightened IT groups fail... and it's for much the same reason. Why? Because they forget about the "What's in it for me?" principle. Where "me" is your customer/end-user not you... if you're the marketer...or the IT group.

Jay Rollins, recently writing at TechRepublic.com, hit at this from a different angle that deserves to be pondered (below replace 'customers' with 'in-house end-users'):

The technology was the easy part. Pulling together a solution that the customers actually wanted was the tough part.

As with all technology implementations, the tough part is not necessarily the initial technology. The services and business processes that are typically not part of IT’s purview or area of expertise are usually what makes or breaks a successful technology implementation. Challenging long-held assumptions and having the intestinal fortitude to carry the ball across the goal line regardless of how tough it actually is separates the outstanding IT leader from the rest.

How are you making sure too much emphasis isn't being placed on the technology and the IT department itself?

A quick and dirty test:

• How often do you question _IT_ best practices? (many don't make sense in a particular organization or at a particular time; similarly many so-called best practices are really conventional wisdom... and questionable tidbits at that)
• How much do you argue over technical elegance versus pragmatic business aligned solutions?
• How much do other groups grumble behind the IT groups back?
• How cynical is the IT group about other groups?
• Has the IT group done anything other than ask to be included in early strategic and tactical planning that has a technology component?
• Have you explained your position not from the perspective of the burden it places on IT but from the perspective of the burden it places on the business? In marketing, those marketers who talk about themselves don't do as well. Those who talk about things from the perspective of the prospect, enjoy far more success. What is in it for your "customers" (end-users) not just you?

Each organization is different and IT can't work in a silo... nor can IT blame everyone else for its problems unless its willing to view the world with eyes wide open.

-jr

As I sit here writing this, listening to our new dishwasher shoot, splosh, and steam our dishes to cleanliness, I'm forced to contemplate why our dishes used to pile up at our old place -- despite our best intentions.

Previously our dish washing foo was less than stellar.

In the old place we didn't have a dishwasher machine -- other than our own hands. We'd go through periods of keeping up on the dishes. It usually persisted through the first few days (rarely weeks) of clean house euphoria that resulted from spending a day cleaning the entire house or kitchen. Then, we'd fall off the wagon and dishes would pile up. Rinse repeat. Same thing every time.

Our behavior never changed despite our interest in keeping the dishes from piling up.

It was pretty frustrating. Each time we'd discuss it and get up the courage again, telling ourselves we'd do better this time. Then we'd fail. It became pretty stressful in and of itself.

Stress is usually the result of missed expectations. And our expectations were pretty shot to hell the millionth time around.

Now, throughout all this, one of us might pop in and pound some dishes out in random bursts but there was no consistency. And, usually, this was out of frustration over our falling off of the wagon versus a genuine desire to keep things clean. In an ironic twist, this actually added to the frustration -- because it seemed to be a demonstration to ourselves that we could do it when we chose to. So what the heck was our problem?

There had to be something that we were missing. The solution couldn't be that easy (just choosing to do it).

Sure, we could say it was because we just "didn't have the time" but really that was just a convenient excuse.

Our productivity, or lack thereof, was really driven entirely by our mood. We liked the idea of having a clean house and no dishes piling up. But, somehow, we just weren't totally getting it. Why were we committed to the idea but not the action? And what else was really going on?

• What mental hurdle does it take to turn an idea into an action?
• How do you know when you are failing because of, in fact, time (or an unrealistic goal) versus when you are failing because you are approaching things the wrong way?
• How do you determine the difference between persistence (often a good thing when aiming towards a goal or dream) versus banging your head against the wall?
• How do you effectively develop new habits (or change old ones) when you are "focused" on achieving a million other things in your life as well?
• How do you coordinate this process across a household of different family members all with different time, energy, and stress tolerances and responsibilities?

How indeed.

Well, in our case, we got a dishwasher. :-)

But, the (more useful) explanation is of course more than that.

Yes, perhaps there were other things we could have done to motivate ourselves, penalize ourselves, etc. Perhaps we were too undisciplined. But sometimes a completely different approach is what is actually most effectively. Especially when there's no downside to doing something completely different.

Just because we could have found a way to achieve our aim, doesn't make it the best approach. I had no big deep down desire to prove to myself (and especially not anyone else) that we were the manual labor dish washing motivation experts. In fact, I just wanted clean dishes -- I didn't care how we got 'em as long as it didn't take much time, energy, or money.

I even only half jokingly mentioned to my wife that maybe we ought to hire someone to come in and do the dishes (and a few other things while they were at it). That thought stayed in my mind for a month or two but we never did pursue it.

In any case, sometimes tweaking the goal makes sense. The idea of hiring somebody actually was closer to where we should have been thinking even if it didn't end up being our ultimate solution. In our case, we were too focused on the goal of "how do we get -- and keep -- ourselves in the habit of washing the dishes?". It sounds simple now, but a lot of solutions do -- in hindsight.

Sometimes we get so caught up in a solution that we've been attempting that we become convinced that we "can beat it". That's not an un-admirable attribute, but we have to remember it can work against us to. Awareness of this problem is probably the best means of sorting out those situations where it is occurring from the others where raw persistence really is what's needed.

How we frame our problems (or goals) makes a big difference in our approach to them. In my case, caught up in the daily tasks and lots of other goals and dreams, I routinely frame seemingly less important issues (such as keeping the dishes from piling up) the wrong way. Most likely because I don't put enough energy upfront in pondering them. I am continually dumbfounded by how easily I can solve a stressful problem that's been lingering by simply re-evaluating the entire premise.

Often I'm stressing not because something isn't done but because I'm not yet sure how I'm going to get there. Or, the goal isn't really all that clear to begin with. Once I realize that something is not right, I mentally pull back and reboot. That takes some energy but far less than it would to persist down the wrong path -- or no path at all.

We're all pretty good problem solvers. That doesn't mean that we're always solving the right problems.

-jr

Finally moved (mostly) over to the new apartment. We stayed here last night for the first time. Still a bit more to pack up from the old place. Thanks to my mom and my brother for helping us get the bulk of stuff moved (especially our Cal King bed -- up to the third floor master bedroom - doh!).

Ran across a blog post from Brandon Uttley of Web Business Freedom this morning which fits into a lot of my current thinking.... I encourage you to poke through it:

Why is it that so many smart people, who are savvy enough to use a computer every day and chock full of expertise, are blind to opportunities to attract more business through the web?

...more...

Common sense and a sprinkle of self-confidence is the best way to succeed in a new business, project, cause, or other change in our lives. It has far less to do with prior experience, schooling, etc. than many think.

A great way to insure we stick with the common sense approach is to ignore what the industry norms are. That doesn't mean defy them just to be defiant. But it does mean defy them when we understand why we want to (put the other way: when we understand that the norm doesn't actually make any sense in and of itself -- at least for our goals).

Most of us have common sense, but it's easy to miss the forest for the trees when we're caught up in the middle of an industry or a particular problem, emotionally reacting, discussing a situation within a group setting, letting the client's past approach to a situation guide our approach, or unsure of ourselves.

Seek out ways to detect when you may be falling into this trap. Then experiment with ways to knock yourself out of it when it happens. Since it's a re-occurring problem, well, you'll have plenty of opportunities to test and refine your detection methods and remedies.

-jr

The last few months have been busy between personal projects, client projects, and several out of town trips. Anyhow this morning, I ran across a nifty looking resource which inspired this post, which is dedicated to all of those out there who dream of going out "on their own", have already tried and struggled but still plow along, or who are doing alright but are always in search of how to get better.

The site I ran across is:

"My Own Business, Inc. is a nonprofit organization committed to helping people succeed in business. The course is presented by successful business owners who point out the common, avoidable mistakes. Our course is geared toward the entrepreneur who wants to start his or her own business, and the individual who has an established small business and would like to see that business grow and expand. Most people fail in business because they make avoidable mistakes! This free course teaches you what those mistakes are and how to avoid them."

The course is on-line, covers a lot of ground, appears to stick to the practical aspects rather than lots of theory, and has words from actual entrepreneurs like you spread throughout.

On a similar note, nearly everyone knows about local Chamber of Commerce organizations and groups such as Rotary which can be useful for networking (maybe, depending on how you do it). But most areas, including SLO County where I'm based, have a number of useful organizations specifically for those who are on their own and are either just starting or looking to take things up a notch (whether they are full-time or part-time ventures). For example:

• Cuesta Small Business Development Center
• Private one-on-one Counseling (consulting) for entrepreneurs
• Workshops
• SLO SCORE
• Counseling
• Workshops
• Other resources (such as an interesting looking online book called "How to Start a Business in SLO County")
  
• SLO EVC
• Workshops
• Loans
• Venture capital
• Site selection
  

Best of luck in all your endeavors!

-jr

About a year ago I observed that 64% of the schools in this region have connectivity at 100 Mbit/s or greater to the K12HSN -- and in turn the Internet and Internet2. I shared a few thoughts on how this might be used to do some nifty things.

Today I came across a news item from the Internet2 web site, covering a high school in Minneapolis that, using an Internet2 connection, participated in a live knee surgery.

As the surgery progressed before them, the 30 juniors and seniors in John Redelsheimer's class reacted to crystal-clear images of sliced flesh and bone with predictable groans and urrrghs. They asked questions of the surgical staff, such as how long the implant might last, and how a full and partial knee replacement differ.

Students in the Robbinsdale Armstrong High School anatomy and physiology class observed Wednesday as a surgeon in Columbus, Ohio, performed total knee-replacement surgery on an 85-year-old woman. And they didn't even board a bus.

Students in the Robbinsdale district are among a select group for whom technological expertise and resources have aligned to allow them to take an e-field trip -- in this case, to Dr. Joel Politi's operating room. Other classes have been to the International Wolf Center in Ely, Minn., a classroom in Egypt and a village in Mozambique.

The session was sponsored by COSI, a science center in Columbus, Ohio. It was made possible by Web-driven video-conferencing technology via Internet2, a superfast network linking universities, industry and government. The basic technology -- the cameras and microphones -- isn't new, but schools haven't been able to use it fully until recently because most lack that fast, powerful connection.

Link to full article is here.



This is what I am talking about!

Barry VanderKelen, who heads up the San Luis Obispo County Community Foundation, has a column entitled Nonprofit Strategies that appears from time to time in the SLO Tribune. I often catch it on-line when it appears. Today's is entitled Stay Focused in tight times. In it he asks Israel Dominguez, who became the new director of Cuesta College's Small Business Development Center in November, "how does a nonprofit organization navigate tough economic times?"

What I liked was the advice given by Mr. Dominguez is good for non-profit....and for profit enterprises alike. And not only in bad times -- but good ones too.

You may want to read the article yourself (link again) then come back here. Anyhow, I'm not known for lacking in opinions so I had a bit to add which is below:

For directors (and business owners), it shouldn't be a matter of thinking in terms of good times versus bad times but a matter of thinking: Who really are my customers? What do they truly want right now? How might I give it to them? And, critically, how do I communicate to them in a compelling way that is compatible with their current mindset?

Good times just means we get to be a bit more lazy in our planning and implementation of all of the above while still drifting by. :-) True success -- the kind that is sustainable anyway -- takes deliberate analysis of the marketplace. Once you're in that position you stop worrying about the ups and downs of the economy other than as variables to incorporate into your analysis about what needs and desires you should be meeting for your customers and making sure your marketing is appealing to them in the new context.

Ironically, with a bit of creativity and persistence, economic downturns can actually be incorporated into ones product/service development and marketing messages. All changes and cycles present opportunities for the astute director/manager/owner.

"You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out." -- Warren Buffet

Well, I finally broke down. I hired Sandy and the fact that I can call her anytime with my speed dial is amazing, though it's still taking some adjustment to get used to not having to do it all by myself. She makes sure I don't forget to do things, reminds me about appointments, looks up information for me, calls ahead to let folks know I'm on my way or running late, and jots down thoughts and ideas that occur to me while I'm out and about away from my computer. Oh, and because she gets along well with others, there are endless possibilities to improve how I work. If this trial continues to be so promising, and thus I decide to keep her around, I just hope I can continue to afford her along with the tools she needs to do her job.

-jr

Are WE Holding Ourselves Back?

(This is a draft of an informal essay I wrote today. Figured this would be a good place to post it and garner some feedback). A brief excerpt:

"Often we're concerned about failure. The great irony about the perception most humans have about taking risks and failing is that it nearly insures that most of us will, in fact, have the greatest failure of all: never seeing our most fruitful ideas turned into reality and achieving our most important goals in life. Our built in risk aversion is really, quite ironically, our greatest risk of all. A wolf in sheep's clothing."

"The truth is that most of us can handle far more “risk” than we currently do. On the other hand, we could do with a lot less of the risks we do chose to take on...."

Most of us are capable of far more than we give ourselves credit for. Fortunately, we are the only ones holding ourselves back.

Usually due to a combination of starting something worthwhile but not finishing it and coming up with a good idea but not doing anything about it (taking action), we stand still or, at best, make very very slow progress. Thus, at best, even if we make some progress towards our goals we still do not end up actually passing the goal line.

Often we're concerned about failure. The great irony about the perception most humans have about taking risks and failing is that it nearly insures that most of us will, in fact, have the greatest failure of all: never seeing our most fruitful ideas turned into reality and achieving our most important goals in life. Our built in risk aversion is really, quite ironically, our greatest risk of all. A wolf in sheep's clothing.

Our perception of the risks of most failures are outlandish. While there are certainly some things that are risky enough they could, say, kill us outright, most failures are far less dramatic. Some types of failures can be quite stressful to be sure. Some may even shorten our lives by a few years (due to the stress, though even a bit of short-term stress can sometimes be worth it if it makes the remaining years that much more satisfying). But nowhere near the percentage we think -- of “risky ideas” that we all come up with in our day to day lives -- are even half as horrifying in impact, if we were to take action and fail, as we might convince ourselves they are.

Our comfort zones hold us back. However nearly all good things that come to us, arise from somewhere outside of our comfort zones. Taking on our first real job. Driving for the first time. Taking an entrance or certification exam for a college program, to teach, or some other program we want to pursue to push our careers forward. Marrying for love. Having our first child. Flying for the first time. Learning to swim. Passing a difficult test that forced us to really learn the subject matter rather than simply memorizing a few key concepts. Learning to take our first step (though most of us will lack firsthand memory on this one). Asking someone attractive (in whatever way you deem important) out on a date or even simply for coffee. Starting a blog and posting our real thoughts, opinions, and ideas out there for the world to yell back that we're wrong. :)

While each of these can be stressful in the moment, that feeling soon subsides (especially with practice and time). Without these stretches, life would be so boring and, well, lifeless. We grow, becoming more comfortable in our new terrain. When viewed with a receptive mind, we even learn a lot from our failures.

Nearly all “firsts” in our lives are outside of our comfort zone. In fact, some of them may even be far more realistically life threatening than the other ideas and opportunities that we chose not to take action on. So much for our built-in perceived versus real risks radars.

When I was starting my most recent consulting business I knew there was a good chance that cash would get a little tight for a while. Since I knew that was a high probability outcome along the way towards my goals, I could plan to address it. I could take some actions to handle the looming issue and I could think through some of the options I'd have, depending on how bad things got when the time came. To me, that wasn't really a risk. I trusted myself and thought my way through it. There are few situations in life where we have absolutely no options. It wasn't that I didn't worry about having money to pay the rent and buy food. It wasn't that it didn't stress me out. It was more that the real risks that scared me more than the others were the things that I might have fail(ed) to anticipate and plan. To a certain extent, the ones entirely (or mostly) outside of my control, were a big deal but, again, it's all about having options. As long as I was confident I'd have options, the number of real risks in my world quickly shrunk and became manageable.

The truth is that most of us can handle far more “risk” than we currently do. On the other hand, we could do with a lot less of the risks we do chose to take on....

Our perceptions that result in us not taking on risks that we should while continuing to do things that we shouldn't are even more humorous when considered in another light. I got my first credit card when I was eighteen. It was an American Express. A Mastercard soon followed. At first, I had the money so it really wasn't a big deal. Then I left my comfy job to try my hand as a pseudo-partner in a friend's business venture. That fizzled out. I had some savings from a well timed stock option sell-out. It didn't take long to burn through that. After all, I'd gotten used to a pretty good salary (even if I hadn't been only eighteen at the time). I temporarily struck out on my own (consulting without any specific plan other than to explore new business opportunities) and then, a short time later, became a partner in another new business venture. Well, my financial situation changed quite a bit over that time period. And, like many early entrepreneurs without a solid win under their belts, my partners and I didn't pay ourselves much since we were in start-up mode. But, hey, I didn't have to change my lifestyle – I still had all those credit cards, right?

Give nearly anyone a few dollars and they'll have no problem finding a way to spend it to get something they need (let's not worry about the distinction between need and want for today). Now combine that with easy access to credit (credit cards and home equity loans are the most common current incarnations). Coupled with the basic desires that we all have to please ourselves, get a bit of instant gratification from time to time, and reward ourselves for a job well done or some ill we suffered that day, and our perceptions of risk go out the door.

Suddenly we're no longer thinking about how we'll afford to pay off that large credit card balance next month, how much extra we'll really have paid for today's little indiscretion due to the compounding interest we'll have paid before the balance is gone months or years down the road, and, worse in my mind, the opportunity cost that slowly at first and incrementally over time builds up until we have convinced ourselves that we “just don't have the money to do whatever we want”.

We want everything now so much that we put ourselves in a permanent position of never actually getting what we want. Irony can hurt, especially when it's wired into the standard operating procedure of our brains. It's a bit like the inverse of “wanting to have our cake and eat it too”. We use perceived risks as excuses not to do the things we really should if we actually want to achieve our goals. And we toss out the real matter-of-fact risks when it comes to acquiring the things we could probably do without for just a bit longer. If only... If only...

“I want it now, the future be damned!” Don't get me wrong. There's a time and a place for this attitude – it can be what gets us through some days. We're all human and I doubt we're supposed to be perfect all the time. Besides it's no fun to be perfect. The problem is recognizing when it has become a habit, a regular occurrence, and something that we keep doing even while making excuses about not doing the things we know we really should. (Sadly it can become a feedback loop unto itself, it almost being worse if we are aware that this is what is going on but don't have the strength left to pull oneself out of it so we feed the indiscretion monster more to get through each day and it gets worse -- so watch out!)

While we can be our own worst enemies, remember that is a good thing as well. It means it's under our control. While it's not easy to fight what is hard wired into our own brains, it can be easier than many other battles we participate in outside of ourselves. It's certainly a more important (and probably much more effective) fight. I challenge you:

1. What is one really attractive goal you have?
   
2. What step, or even steps if you are really on it, have you taken in the last day to get you there?
   
3. What about in the last week?
   
4. The last month?
   
5. The last year?
   
6. The last decade?
   
7. Don't beat yourself up over the answers to #2-#6. More importantly, what are you going to do TODAY?
   
8. Now, to make it a little easier to stay on the ball tomorrow with your new ambition, what is something you can do tomorrow as well?
   
9. And the next day?
   
10. And the next?
    
11. Good work --- keep it up! Momentum has a tendency of building, even from nearly nothing. You'll be there in seemingly no time if you keep it up. But you do have to START somewhere. Get moving. NOW.
    

-jr