Oprah Winfrey recently interviewed Jerry Seinfeld for her
magazine. During this interview, he mentioned a
commencement speech he gave that I found very validating.
Here's what he said:
"I gave them my three rules for living. First, bust your
a*s. That's a universal law, no matter what you do.
Second, pay attention. Learn from everything and everyone
all the time. One of my favorite expressions is "Wherever
you look, there's something to see." Finally, I gave them
my third rule: Fall in love. Fall in love with your
street, your tennis game, a pillow."
In summary, work hard, pay attention, have passion.
The first rule's application to business seems obvious, but
I'll bet there are a lot of different interpretations of
what it means to work hard. In my opinion, it means to be
committed to the endeavor, whether you're working 20, 40 or
60 hours per week.
It means to study what works and do that, try new things
and get your bu'tt on the phone, even when you don't feel
like it. It means to take risks and stand out - be
different. Give good customer service to everyone and
generally show up.
Paying attention is equally important, and often
overlooked. You cannot expect to do what you are doing
today forever. Either you are wanting more, which will not
happen with doing the same things the same way, or, and you
can certainly count on this, things will change! Your
target market will change what they want. You will change.
The economy will change - over and over. You need to be
paying attention to stay ahead of your competition.
On a smaller level, you need to pay attention to what is
going on with people you meet. There will be people who
don't like you and you need to recognize this. There will
be people who absolutely adore you, and you need to
recognize this, too! You need to know what your customers
want and what works best for you so you can do more of that.
Thirdly, fall in love. I think this means you need passion
- for life. If you love dogs, or flowers, or words, or as
Jerry said - a pillow, then feel that passion. You cannot
be one-dimensional and be happy, and what is the point of
doing anything if you are not happy.
Fall in love with your clients, your purpose and the
everyday work. Have an idea of how to keep that passion
over the long haul, but focus on enjoying today. Do you
think Jerry would be where he is today if he had no
passion? Would he have been able to endure the grueling
schedule of traveling around the country going from comedy
club to comedy club starting out? Would he have been able
to sell the concept of his TV show?
What are you willing to do for your own success? Are you
willing to work hard, consistently? Are you willing to be
vigilant about paying attention - consistently? Can you
keep your passion as long as it takes to achieve your goals?
----------------------------------------------------
Audrey Burton, Small Business Coach, is "The Tigress". Get
her FREE Special Report, "Closing the Sale is Not
Complicated!" with her FREE monthly email newsletter at
http://www.TigressCoaching.com .
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