I was looking through some notes on blog ideas and saw a piece of an email from Chris Brogan (very valuable weekly emails, BTW, and you can sign up here—and no, he doesn’t pay me). So, he wrote:
“You don’t have to do everything well. Do one thing well. Pare and outsource the rest. You can grow later, but most people try growing too early.”
I can still feel the anxiety that creeps in when I think that I have to grow myself or my business, to pay the bills, for example. Whenever I act on that anxiety, it turns out to be frustrating and a waste of energy.
Take plants. They’ve got all the parts and processes to grow. The only things they require to “take action” are water, organic matter and minerals (food), and sunshine, all in moderate amounts. Oh, yes, and time. Bearing fruit takes time. Rush it and you ruin it. And if those support elements are not available, what do seeds do? They stay focused on who they really are, and wait. More time. They also don’t worry; living in the moment, the season, and the millennium simultaneously. Wow.
I could learn from that. We could, too. Folks who anxiously promote themselves and their businesses all the time without stopping to nurture themselves and their communities are wasting good energy. Think how many more customers (and friends for that matter) you’d keep, and retain, if you invested in cordial relationships (love that word, cordial—look it up).
People do business with those they know, like, and trust. Period. First and foremost.
Plant some roots in your community (real and/or virtual), become the one we know, like, and trust, then wait. It does get better, and even profitable. Over time.