Seven Questions That May Change Your Life!

By Admin | March 31, 2015

 

Seven Questions That May Change Your Life!

Firstly, let me share with you the epitaph of someone who avoided the seven key questions and later I’ll tell you his story:

“Here lies John Averageman.

He was born in 1933; he died in 1970 and was buried in 1995. 

He tried never to try and cringed at the thought of change.

He asked little of life and was not disappointed.”

Yes, the aptly named John Averageman was a failed, unfulfilled dead-man walking. It could have been so different if he had squared off against the seven questions which follow and to have challenged himself to change.

Drum roll please!

It’s time for you to consider the following (which you should on a regular basis because they significantly impact on the quality of your life, as well as those close to you):

If you answered in the negative – wholly or partially – the next part of the exercise is crucial.

Key point: If you cannot answer the initial four questions with a resounding and passionate YES, YES, YES and YES, take it from me, you are compromising and when you compromise, you are destined to lose/fail. It’s just a question of time.

Unless you can bring a massive amount of commitment on a “whatever it takes basis”, you won’t make a full contribution because your energy and intent will not be freely given.

Look, your career/job/business is important, but it is only a sliver of the totality of your life and if you aren’t happy, perhaps it’s time for a massive re-evaluation. Perhaps it’s time for you to Positively & Profitably Rebalance the Rest of Your Life.

As a side issue, I am a strong believer in the power of questioning…for the right question will illicit the right answer and the seven questions as above have been drawn from my program entitled “482 Powerful Questions Every Manager Should Ask Regularly”. If you are a business owner or manager you will find it to be a powerful primer allowing you to manage better, faster and smarter. Check it out.

And now let’s read about the sad, wasted life of John Averageman; a story which is littered with everyday examples of just costly mediocrity can be. I’ll guarantee you know the characters in this story.

John Averageman was born into an average family in 1933. He graduated from Moderate High School and succeeded in graduating without distinction. His classmates voted him the most likely to remain average.

In 1954, John married Mary Mediocre. They had two children – John Averageman Jr and Mary Mediocre Averageman.

John held several unimportant positions with a very ordinary company called ORDINARY Is OKAY which produced one or two indifferent items. Not surprisingly, John earned an average income.

John was a protégé of Matey Right, the proprietor of ORDINARY Is OKAY.

Matey espoused the belief that customers knew where to find him if they really wanted to buy the goods he had to sell. Matey took little pride in his own appearance and that of his business and staff. After all, “people bought his goods…not the floor and the windows” as Matey was wont to say.

Matey kept his records in a shoe box, his staff in the dark and any creditors at the front door, courtesy of his cattle dog “Spot”. He saw little value in learning and training. When absolutely forced to make a decision, he did what he always did. That way, there wouldn’t be any surprises.

Not unexpectedly, ORDINARY Is OKAY faded into oblivion leaving John Averageman out in the cold. With nowhere to go, he elected to commence his own business and so, Mediocre Products was born.

Mediocre Products opened at 8am and closed at 5pm, Monday to Friday. It never chased business after hours because that would involve extra effort.

It stood for nothing in the market place, it was famous for nothing and residents with long memories could remember nothing particularly exciting about the business.

All John Averageman did every day was open his doors and hope that the customers would come in.

They didn’t – because they didn’t know what Mediocre Products sold or produced. John Averageman considered advertising and marketing a waste of time and money. Mediocre Products disappeared many years ago…a victim of complacency and mediocrity.

Following his disastrous foray into business, John Averageman retired to the relative comfort of the Social Security system after 20 years of utterly undistinguished business activity. He immediately became a hit…never once missing to pick up his entitlement.

Whilst on the dole, John continued to boast about the fact that in all of his years of being in business, he never paid one cent in tax. He will not be missed by the thousands of struggling business people who lost money as a result of his complacency, lethargy and unwillingness to get off his bum and have a go.

Father time eventually caught up with John and his remains rest in the very crowded Ordinary Man’s Cemetery.

Dear reader, ultimately the choice is yours, but the decision must be made now.

If you aren’t happy with your current lot, will you do what John Averageman did, or will you face those tough seven questions and look to change for the better?

Mediocrity or success…the choice is yours!

Here’s to more sales, profits and cash from your business,

Damien Parker
Business Improvement Specialist
www.salesprofitscash.com

Follow my Tweets: @salesprofitcash

Recent Blogs in our Management Series include:

The Missing Link between Mediocrity & Success in Business
Let’s Stop The Negativity & Talk Up The Positive
Ten Questions Owner/Managers Need to Ask About Their Business…Regularly!

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