Just Play the Hand You're Dealt!

"There are those that make things happen,

Those that watch things happen,

And those that wonder what happened."

This week, I met with an entrepreneur who attached the following "theme" to her business week:  "waiting..."  Her clients were "waiting" to invest in their health -creating a clog in her own cash flow.  Of course, she is certainly not alone.   I have found that our new economy is ushering in longer sales cycles, as people more carefully consider each purchase they make. 

Let's talk honestly about "waiting", because while we don't want our clients to "wait" for an ideal time to invest in our product or service, many entrepreneurs are playing the waiting game themselves.  

Waiting... for things to turn around

Waiting... for the government to "stimulate" spending

Waiting... for the market to recover

The "BIG IDEA" behind this article is simple... Wait and you will STARVE!     You see, the majority of entrepreneurs will wait.  They will wait for ideal conditions.  They will wait for the risk to diminish.  They will wait for SOMETHING to happen.  They will wait for good news.    Essentially, they are the "watchers" of what is happening, and they will fail. 

On the other hand, those who are pro-actively creating their own good news will thrive!!  These entrepreneurs, as Dr. Gene Landrum puts it, "draw for aces, but play what they have with panache and bravado."  In short, they play the hand they are dealt.  Consider this:

After losing EVERYTHING in a previous business endeavor, George Douglass sat in his empty living room needing cash FAST.  He took stock of the "aces" he had in his possession.  He had 83 copies of Think and Grow Rich and a few broken down auto-dialers.  How could he leverage the hand he was dealt?    He began calling insurance agents, mortgage brokers and real estate agents offering a free workshop on how to use auto -dialers for business success.  Anyone who attended his workshop received a copy of Think and Grow Rich .  He started fixing those auto-dialers and managed to sell eight of them and rent several more through his free workshop.  He got the cash he needed and began an entirely new business. 

Ali Brown hit a low point when she couldn't withdraw $20 out of her checking account to go out with friends.  (Ali, I can relate.)  George Foreman was a washed-up fighter before his "second act".  My friend Sam Beckford (known around the world as The Small Business Millionaire) failed six times in business and, at one point, couldn't afford groceries for his family.  Lee Milteer's business took a nose-dive after 9-11.  So did Steve Chandler's.  None of these people "waited" for things to happen or for things to change.  If they had, you and I would never have heard of them.  ALL of them made an unbreakable "deal" with themselves and committed to MAKING things happen. 

Steven Covey says, "We are responsible for our own effectiveness, for our own happiness."  I would add, "We alone are responsible for our own success."    We can't always control the hand we've been dealt.  But we can always control how we play it!   Play with confidence, boldness, bravado and panache! Play to win BIG!  The "pack" will wait.  Let's commit to doing the opposite!!