Good Morning, Everyone.
Sunday thoughts coming from Denny’s in Cooperstown New York. Jack is here for a baseball tournament and its awesome. He’s lodged up in the “all-star” village with his coaches and team mates and I can’t sleep past 5:00, which puts me in Denny’s doing this.
A good friend of mine recently put the brakes on a marketing/lead generation system that was costing thousands a month, with limited returns. The marketing/lead generation idea came from someone that I know, but have never been a huge fan of. Big talker, limited results, start/stop/start stop, always has the answers type of person, whether they actually have the answer or not. I’m shy from always having the answers myself but I didn’t think this was a good idea a year ago and voiced my opinion, other people I respect (as does this person) have suggested over the past year that it wasn’t a good idea but it still went on. The person who had the idea makes less, saves less, and has a life more out of control. The people suggesting not to do it make more, save more, and have their “stuff” pretty dialed in i.e. their life. Good news is this was one bad business decision for a person who normally makes good life decisions but I couldn’t help but think about the lesson of seeking council from those people we trust and respect vs. others who have not proven themselves. Not just trust and respect but have earned the right to give advice and advice that should be heard, and listened to. This isn’t about this one example, the example is actually small, it’s about the fact that we have people talking “at” us all day about what works, what doesn’t work, how to make money, how to save, how to sell, how to do everything. Seems to me most of the people giving me advice, without me asking for it, are people I don’t need to be listening to. I already have the people in my life that I trust to give advice on multiple topics. faith, money, business, personal, marriage, fatherhood, health, friendship, leadership, sales, etc…I can literally attach a name with each topic. If I had to create a test of:
1. Does this person have my best interest in mind?
2. Does this person have a proven track record for the topic in question?
3. does this person’s actions follow his/her words?
Each person I would seek council from have positive answers to the questions above. Who are your “go to” people? Sometimes we need to evaluate if we have the right people in our lives that we’re seeking council from, or if we have enough of them. When you have the right people advising you, next thing you have to do is actually listen, especially when they’re telling you what you don’t always want to hear. I struggle with this a lot.
Have a great Sunday!! I’ll be here through the week enjoying A LOT of baseball.