Are You Really Happy In Your Business? (find out here…)

The following is an excerpt from a business seminar Chris Guerriero was the keynote at:

Are you really happy in your business?

Let me give you an example – I have a friend who ran a business for over 10 years.  And during that time, he rarely, if ever, made a profit larger than  his living expenses – so in essence, even though he worked his butt off every day – he didn’t have anything in the bank.

So when he and I met – his main goal was to make more money – so I helped him get online and today he makes a pretty darn good living working only a few hours a week.

Now last weekend we have a party and a house full of guests and he was one of the folks who came buy…

And I don’t know exactly how it came up – but he started talking about his goals and he said that happiness was always a tough thing for him.

He told me stories of how he spent most of his life feeling very confused – sort of like no matter how hard he worked, he never seemed to feel fulfilled, and that was because he always wanted to be a famous actor.

Which was pretty darn shocking since he’s never mentioned that to me – and I’ve known him for now for about 3 years and the only thing he ever wanted to talk about was how to grow his income.

Now people only really want three things – whether we’re talking about you, me, your customers, your neighbors, your kids – anyone…

They want to be rich, they want to be famous, and they want to have a purpose.

But those words mean a lot of different things to different people.

And you have to know this stuff – not just so you can lead a happier life, but so you can understand your customers better, and sell more stuff, and help more people, and build bigger and bigger businesses…

So some people see the word Rich – and they think about making enough money to pay all the bills and maybe drive a decent car.

Some people think being RICH is taking 4 vacations a year, or making $100,000 a year, or $100,000 a month, or $100,000 a week.

…and when some people think of the word FAMOUS – they think about being the star of their neighborhood – having the house where all the neighbors flock to every weekend for a great barbeque – and some people think FAMOUS is being known all across the globe, or being on TV, or being on the cover of a magazine.

…and having a PURPOSE – could mean everything from being a good parent, to helping out in a charity… or it could mean creating something that helps millions of people around the world.

It’s important that you know how YOU define those 3 words so you can make sure that you’re building the kind of life that fulfills you, instead of just chasing the money.

So anyway – he’s telling me how he always wanted to be an actor – and I asked him if he considered himself RICH.

…and he said yes.  Which he certainly is by most people’s standards – I mean he’s got a business that now pulls in more than enough cash to pay the bills and do a LOT more.

And I asked him if he thought he had a good PURPOSE in life – and although that one took a lot more thought – he still said yes – because he created his business the same way you are… with a book, and a plan to get that book into the hands of the masses so the info in that book can help the greatest number of people possible.

– And his book is really good stuff – it’s basic, it’s not written as well as I think it should be – but the content in it is really good – and it helps a lot of people.

So his life, according to HIS definitions, fulfills 2 of the 3 basic needs that we all have – he feels like he’s RICH – he feels like his life has PURPOSE – but he doesn’t feel like he’s FAMOUS in the way he wants to be famous.

Now the definition of HAPPINESS – at least the way I understand it – is:
1. Choosing a goal
2. Working a solid plan to get to that goal
3. Achieving it
4. And moving onto another similar but larger goal

I don’t believe in the old saying that happiness comes from working toward a worthy goal – heck… happiness comes from the accomplishment, not the work.

– Growth comes from the work
– Motivation comes from the vision of yourself achieving your goal
– but Happiness comes from accomplishing the goal itself