Energy is currency in anyone’s language. And no I don’t mean Middle East oil reserves or the latest Aussie wind farm (aka parliament house). I’m talking about personal energy – the kind that keeps your body perky, the under-eye baggage at bay, and your friends jealous.
Keeping on top of everything we need to, want to or must do can take it out of you. Now apparently banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour, but it’s not the ideal way to stay fit, focused and fabulous.
Watching the wild birds this morning that come in to eat at the feeder on our fence, I’ve got to give it to Mother Nature. There’s a natural pecking order where they seem to sort things out and happily co-exist. Between the galahs, cockatiels, corellas, rosellas and top-knot pigeons they all know where they stand with each other, give each other space and respect, and yet all still manage to get in and get their fill.
What a pity the same can’t be said of us. At the risk of stating the blindingly obvious, we humans don’t get along very well. Turn on any news bulletin and the endless litany of wars, terrorism, violence, crime, corruption and greed is proof enough. And everybody seems to be looking for someone to blame or sue for the lack in their lives.
Maybe we could learn a thing two from birds and animals. You don’t see them trashing their environment or torturing and abusing others, they don’t know prejudice and don’t discriminate. We like to think we’re the smartest species on the planet, but it takes more than opposable thumbs to make you human.
Truth is if life’s too short to drink bad coffee, then it’s way too short to waste it on hate, hurt, envy and vengeance or jockeying for position and power. So instead of rolling out symbolic gestures of harmony and brotherly love just at Christmas time or the New Year’s Eve countdown, why not all make a daily effort to get along – one person at a time.
If there’s one critical quality every entrepreneur, netpreneur and small business owner needs in spades – it’s persistence. There’s no doubt persistence pays!
It’s a lesson I picked up pretty quickly from my husky/labrador cross Charmer on our daily morning walks. We have several different routes we take (hey dogs need variety just as much as humans). But Charmer is an ambitious dog and always has his sights set on bigger, better adventures.
As we approach the ‘turn for home’ point, what started as a wistful gaze in the opposite direction soon became a gentle but insistent tug. When that didn’t work he resorted to the less subtle but highly effective Sherman tank approach by veering across the road trying to drag me in his wake – then pulling back on the lead, sulking and going slow the rest of the way home when I refused his constant efforts.
No prizes for guessing who won in the end. But he’s easily pleased – he is a dog. Every morning we vary the mix … maybe one more block, a left turn instead of the usual right, even just a few more metres to the next tree and he’s happy. Now suddenly instead of 7 ways we can walk, Charmer has expanded his repertoire of adventures to at least 20. It’s a win:win, more fun for him, more exercise for me.
Yep, persistence pays. It’s the core of business success. You need to be self-disciplined and prepared to prime the pump and hang in there. Like Charmer, come hell or high water you don’t give up. You adapt, you revise your plan of attack, you learn from your mistakes, you correct your course as you go, and keep your eye on the goal.
Of course if you’ve made some poor business decisions or choices – persistence is no virtue. If you find yourself in a hole you don’t want to be in, you’ve got to know when to stop digging!
Getting things done is not the same as making things happen. But as each New Year dawns we sag under the self-inflicted weight of a bunch of New Year’s resolutions that give us even more ‘things to get done’. And feel as guilty as a Jenny Craig client at a Krispy Kreme store, when next New Year’s eve rolls around and we haven’t delivered.