I believed in some crazy ideas when I was young.
I failed school, for the first time ever in grade five.
I thought I could fool everyone.
Simple. Erase my marks on the report card, and write in a new passing grade.
No one will notice. So I thought.
And my parents even fell for it.
Until….my evil sister noticed something suspicious in the numbers and the way the blue ink didn’t quit match up with the rest of the black ink.
Busted. Dam her!
Not to mention the obvious signs of per-pubescent forgery with my tools of the trade: ink erasers. Very destructive. Very obvious. Very scratchy.
Looking back I laugh now. At the time I breezed through school, all the while in a constant state of day dreaming.
Until I hit grade five. Where history and biology were new areas of study that required some attention.
Which I did not have.
It’s the same in business. You can’t fool the market place. Especially nowadays. There’s way too much transparency.
The answer is simple and obvious. We can use these realities in our day to day operations by delivering top notch experiences and products.
So the market place can tell everyone about the grade we deserve.
And we ought to all be shooting for an A+. You can’t get a D and expect to change it.
You can’t get a mediocre C and expect your business to thrive.
You might do OK. And OK may be okay with you. But why not push for the highest mark in the class? Always.
Why not? When I started pushing my photography business hard a few decades ago, I had as one of my goals to be the very best in my area. I don’t know that I achieved it. And how one can measure.
But I did OK. And still do OK. But I’m humble bragging. I did, and continue to do great.
Having a lofty goal to be number ONE in your area is more than just a goal. It’s a mission. A movement. A crusade.
When you push for something bigger than you, you inspire a higher state that you’re constantly trying to achieve. Like a carrot dangling from a stick.
The marketplace will notice, and grade you accordingly. By default.
Everything flows.
But you have to want, and desire success. Drifting aimlessly without a plan, and nothing more than ego, isn’t going to do much.
It’s why I set goals. BIG HAIRY GOALS and smaller immediate ones.
When you have a plan, you have direction. And you feel inspired. Not stuck in a state of dreamlike fuzziness like I was when I was in grade five. Flunking.
I put together a presentation a few years ago on how I set goals. I even posted the forms I use.
And it’s all here, in the blog. Go get it. Watch, re watch, and print out the forms.
Study hard and do your homework. Success won’t come any other way.
And when you fail, you can’t simply erase your marks and add the ones you WISH you had.
We all know it doesn’t work that way. I learned my lesson.
Robert N. Provencher – Your Master Coach Marketer
“If you want to be a profitable and successful photographer, then study profitable and successful photographers.”
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