Tag Archive for: Success

What Could Be Worse?

I recently heard Robert Kennedy speaking about a conversation that he had held with Turning Point founder Charlie Kirk, prior to his sad and unwarranted assassination. Kennedy suggested that there were worse things than dying. One such example would be to live in a communist or socialist state where you had no choices, effectively in a position where you could not make your own decisions, one where you had no Constitutional rights.

Now, I do not want to turn this blog into a political diatribe, but I do wish to use it as a launch pad for you to reach a higher level of your future. If money were not an object, would you pursue some role that is different than your current one? Do you absolutely love what you are doing in your life? Do you have higher aspirations? Are you being your best self?

If so, I applaud you. My point is that we have so many options available to us. Let’s not overlook them, particularly out of fear. Fear is nothing more than an acronym for – False Expectations Appearing Real…

Have you been thinking about something new and challenging, career wise or for your Family or something even bigger? Set the goal, recognize the obstacles, and then figure out how you can mitigate each of them, as you set out on your new mission.

Motivational speaker Les Brown tells the story outlined by Dr. Howard Thurman, who said that the ultimate positive would be to be on your deathbed and be completely surrounded by your Friends and Family, providing you with your final moments of love & comfort, celebrating your accomplishments in whatever you had pursued.

Contrast that with the pain associated with being in the same situation, except that you are surrounded by your unfulfilled dreams, and these dreams say to you, “We came to you, and only you could have fulfilled us. But now we must die with you.”

What a sad situation that would be… What goal or decision have you been putting off?

Please don’t let another moment go by without addressing this. Move forward with your dream. Prove the naysayers wrong!

I will see you at the finish line and if I can assist you on this process, please let me know.

“Wherever you are in life, you made an appointment to be there.”

Les Brown, Motivational Speaker

Let’s take your business to the Next Level!

What Are My Options?

In uncertain times, having options can be very beneficial, but what are they actually? Well, options come in many forms. You can buy them to set a floor under the price of a stock you are buying or selling. You can also use them to put a floor under the price of farm commodities such as milk, soybeans, corn, or wheat. Essentially, they provide you with insurance against a fallout in the prices you receive.

At the risk of sounding repetitive, they are a tool that provides you with genuine “options.” You effectively have some real choices. You can choose, for example, to sell at the price set by the option if prices have fallen below that level. If the market price is higher than the floor set in your option, you simply take the higher market price and let the option expire unused.

This is probably an oversimplification of the process, but it will give you an idea of how they work in the agricultural markets. They work just like insurance on your house. You only exercise the option if you have a “fire,” so to speak.

One of the biggest complaints I often hear about options, especially in the dairy markets, is that the options are too expensive. Really? If you honestly believe that, talk to a producer without a “floor” under his milk prices who just received $15/cwt for his milk. It’s not a free ride, but it provides you with some comfort that you are not going to get slammed with huge losses because of the prices received. It certainly beats being at a price that is $4/cwt below your break-even level…

Another objection is that if you set these up and don’t exercise the options, you have “simply wasted your premiums.” Well, well. Isn’t that interesting? Since they are another form of insurance (against price fallouts), I have one question for you. If you buy house insurance (& I hope you do) and then your house doesn’t burn down, do you call your agent up and complain that you really didn’t need the insurance? Of course not.

Likewise, with options, the only reason they will go unused is if you get higher market prices. So, your profits should be fine. Why complain about the cost of that “insurance” you put in place on your selling prices. The key here is to consistently use options to protect yourself against price volatility. Then, you won’t be saying, “Oh, if only I had…”

What action have you been putting off in this area? If I can assist you with this, please let me know.

Let’s take your business to the Next Level!

If You Think for One Moment…?

If you think for one moment that you can do something, you are correct. In a recent article by Joshua Becker entitled “Focus on the Reasons You Can,” he does a great job of explaining the benefits of changing our thinking. As the saying goes, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you are correct.”

So often in life and in business, we remind ourselves to be “realistic.” As a result, we temper our expectations. We accept less than what we could have or achieve. Sometimes even well-meaning friends or relatives tell us not to take the risk… If you do a survey of people, you will find a very small percentage of people who can tell you what they want in life. However, 95% of them can tell you what they don’t want in life!

Joshua Becker suggests that “Almost everything worth accomplishing in life is difficult.” He goes on to tell the story about a conference that he attended years ago where the prolific writer, Anne Lamott, was asked the following:

“‘How do I find time to become the writer I want to be? I am a new mother, tired and ragged, and I just can’t find the energy to write during this phase of my life. Should I wait until it passes?’

Anne’s response was swift, pointed, and memorable.

She replied, ‘Listen, there is always going to be an available excuse as to why you can’t do your writing. You are newly-married, or you have a young child. Next, you will have more than one child, or you will be parenting teenagers, or beginning a new career, or traveling too often, or involved in this or that. There will always be a reason why you think you can’t do what you need to do. The pursuit is to overcome these obstacles in order to realize what you are called to accomplish.’

I’ve never forgotten Anne’s words of wisdom that day. In fact, it’s been ten years, and I still remember where I was sitting in the room.”

The point is that you can, indeed, reach that goal you have in mind. Get beyond the paralysis of pessimism. Instead of asking if you can do something, start to ask how you can achieve this objective. Write it down and give your mind an opportunity to start working toward its achievement. Your subconscious mind will push you forward in a positive direction, and as Joshua Becker points out: “… those who focus on the reasons they can, find hope and energy and perseverance.”

What goal or decision have you been putting off? If I can assist you with this, please let me know.

Let’s take your business to the Next Level!

What’s Your Next Action Step?

Do you have a Goal? Brian Tracy, in his book The 32 Unbreakable Laws of Money and Success, outlines a 7 Step process that we all should follow to achieve the goals that we desire.

Here is a synopsis of those seven steps:

·       “Decide exactly what you want.” This is just like archery. You are very unlikely to hit a goal you cannot see. In the case of archery, if you are blindfolded, you probably won’t hit the target. The same holds for goals not set.

·       “Write it down.” There is some “magic” to writing down your objectives. Your subconscious mind works toward them, even as you go about other tasks. Don’t overlook this “hidden” advantage.

·       “Set Deadlines.” Otherwise, nothing happens, so create a “Sense of Urgency!”

·       “Make a Checklist.” What needs to happen? By when? By whom?

·       “Organize Your List by Sequence and Priority.” In what order do the steps above need to be completed?

·       “Take Action.” This is imperative.

·       “Keep Going.” In the infamous words of Winston Churchill, “Never give up!”

It is important that we then manage our time and, frankly, make every moment count, and just in case you are nervous about making a big decision, please allow me to offer you a story from my Business Coach Dan Sullivan of The Strategic Coach:

“When I started as a copywriter at a large ad agency in Toronto, my creative director taught me something that changed how I approach decision making.

He was a tough street kid who didn’t go to college until his thirties, and when people would stress about making the “right decision,” he’d look at them and say, “Nobody makes right decisions. You make a decision—and work like hell to make it right.”

That mindset has stuck with me for decades. And in today’s world, it’s more relevant than ever.

In times of uncertainty, most people wait. They stall. They default to bureaucracy. They overthink and delay progress because they’re afraid of making the wrong move.

But entrepreneurs have a distinct advantage: You don’t have to wait. You can make a decision right now and start moving forward—while everyone else is still standing still.

This mentality—prioritizing action over perfection—is what separates entrepreneurs who thrive from those who get stuck. Because when you’re indecisive, you’re not just pausing … you’re slipping backward. You’re building pressure, second-guessing yourself, and cutting yourself off from learning.

But the moment you make a decision—any decision—and take action, everything changes.

You start learning.
You gain insight.
You build momentum.
You get feedback and make improvements.
You make progress.”

I’ll conclude with Dan’s final thoughts on this:


“Uncertain times don’t have to slow you down. In fact, they can be the best time to invest in yourself—because while the rest of the world waits, you can move forward.

The entrepreneurs who win aren’t the ones who play it safe. They’re the ones who act, learn, and adapt.

Because indecision isn’t safe—it’s the riskiest position of all.”

If I can be of assistance to you, please let me know.

Let’s take your business to the Next Level!

Are You in a Delay Pattern?

As some of you may know, I fly a lot in my consulting travels across the U.S. I believe I have 1.4 million Lifetime Miles on United Airlines, as well as miles on some other flight providers. In those travels, “Delay Patterns” are not unusual, due to heavy air traffic flows & some weather challenges. Frankly, the airlines do a decent job of handling most of these hurdles.

A bigger concern I have is the number of delays that businesspeople experience in their ongoing activities. Bank approval of loans often gets delayed, with no apparent reason… Likewise, operators get delayed in making decisions, sometimes due to these loan approvals, but other times due to self-imposed postponement.

One example I can think of is the dairy client who stated that he would never pay $2,200 for a fresh two-year-old, so he paused. Today, 18 months later, the market prices of these cows are $3,500-4,000! Another prospect thought that $3.5 Million was too much to invest in a new rotary milk barn for his herd. Today, the cost has climbed to $6 Million…

To clarify, I think it’s essential that we realize we are in a different arena today. Post COVID, political handouts, government borrowing and the inflation that all of that has created, costs have increased and may very well continue into the foreseeable future. Now, that is not the only reason to move forward. They are just examples above.

However, let’s set a new course and simply make sound decisions, based upon their own merits, not just because something seems “too expensive.” Weigh out the pluses and minuses and then make the decision – Yes or No.

If there are risks associated with the decision to move forward or not, can they be mitigated? If so, go for it. If not, consider an alternative route.

Do you need one more reason to make a decision? Lack of good, well thought out decisions often can “mortgage the future” for your successors and leave the next generation in a deferred and often less enviable position. Who pays for this delayed action? They do.

Additionally, there are often positive results that are missed by delaying decisions. One client, in spite of having the funds available, deferred on building a new Bed-Pack barn. The result? They missed out on better cow comfort, more milk, and more revenue. They also failed to achieve an improved debt structure, as a result of their decision to not add an Asset to their Balance Sheet with no additional debt. Why wait?

What decision have you been deferring? Weigh the pros and cons before you decide and then move on to the next step today!

Let’s take your business to the Next Level!

Remember the Scary Times?

Recently, I reread a book by Strategic Coach Co-Founder Dan Sullivan entitled the Scary Times Success Manual. The original version of this material was written for a group of entrepreneurs, following the 9/11 attacks. As Dan states in his book:

“As I was preparing for a special client event in New York City, I thought, ‘When something like this is happening, you have to forget about some things and focus intently on other things.’ I started writing and came up with a list of ten ‘forget about this, focus on that’ strategies, which turned into a four-page document that I called ‘The Scary Times Success Manual.’”

I thought it was so true that I wanted to share the ten points with you, because, interestingly, we seem to be in some scary times again with the advent of high interest rates, elevated inflation & falling commodity prices. The economics of business are changing, and we can either respond negatively or proactively to these challenges.

As Dan so accurately states: “While the shock and disruption of scary times can leave a lot of people feeling paralyzed to respond and act, entrepreneurs have some experience in dealing with scary times in their normal lives simply because they’ve chosen the entrepreneurial path and the challenges that come with it.”

Here are Dan’s 10 points:

·       “Forget About Yourself; Focus on Others” – When these scary times arrive, how can we help others? For example, what fears do your employees have & how can you assist them?

·       “Forget About Your Commodity; Focus on Your Relationships” – Stay in touch with your Vendors and Banker. You will definitely need them in the long term, so be sure to focus on the future and ask them what they think.

·       “Forget About the Sale; Focus on Creating Value” –  Motivation is key here, so be sure to key in on what you can offer to create additional value.

·       “Forget About Your Losses; Focus on Your Opportunities” – You must capture opportunities that arise by focusing on what is currently working and what might create more success in the future. What does the future hold and where can we grow & improve?

·       “Forget About Your Difficulties; Focus on Your Progress” – Treat this time period as one where you can make your biggest progress. Stay prepared, or you won’t be ready when your prices start to rise again. Instead, create a better you and as a result, better business outcomes.

·       “Forget About the Future; Focus on Today” – What can you do in the next 24 hours? Plan for positive results on everything. Send positive messages and always measure your outcomes, because if you measure something, you will understand it. If you understand it, you can better control it, and if you have more control, you can improve it.

·       “Forget About Who You Were; Focus on Who You Can Be” – Reinvent yourself and set bigger goals. Make the best use of technology to do so, especially with the advent of Ai.

·       “Forget About Events; Focus on Your Responses” – It is important to remember that we cannot always control the events that happen, but we most certainly can control our responses. When major events occur, a new normal will arrive, and you will be prepared for it.

·       “Forget About What’s Missing; Focus on What’s Available” – Recognize what changed. What areas do you need to clean up? Are there items you should simplify or change to set a new course for your business?

·       “Forget About Your Complaints; Focus on Your Gratitude” – Be grateful for what you do have and what you have been able to accomplish. Stay positive, because no one ever erected a statue for a pessimist!

I hope Dan’s 10 points help you as you move forward. Apply them as often as you can, and I believe your outcomes will be awesome!

 

“Don’t wait on perfect conditions for success to happen; just go ahead and do something.”

Dan Miller

Let’s take your business to the Next Level!

 

Were They Planning to Fail?

Recently, I visited a business prospect who suggested that, frankly, he did not know how they arrived in the challenging situation they were currently facing. After looking at their situation, I made two quick suggestions that may yield an additional $100,000 of profit.

Their situation reminded me of the cartoon with the two cowboys leaning on a fence and a starving cow standing next to them. They said, “Gee, just don’t know what happened, but she just suddenly took a turn for the worse…” The reality is the cow had been starving for weeks. They just hadn’t been paying attention…

This is all too common in business today, and the resulting downturn for some is coming faster than ever. While we cannot control the impact of variables like COVID, inflation, higher interest rates or tariffs, we can structure our business operations to build some “cushion” for these types of impactful events.

We know these various challenges will arise at times, sometimes when we least expect them. With this in mind, let’s develop a plan to overcome them. Remember, tough times don’t last; tough people do!

What can you do? First, develop a plan for what you want to achieve, or as Stephen Covey often stated, “Begin with the end in mind.” What are the obstacles you will potentially face, and how can you mitigate these? Set dates for the steps you will need to take and determine who will be implementing these tasks. Otherwise, you could end up like the four people: Everybody, Anybody, Somebody, and Nobody.

Everybody agreed that a task was essential. Anybody could have implemented the next step. Somebody should have taken charge, but, in the end, Nobody did. The result? They were “painted into a corner” with no way out…

Don’t get caught in this trap. Develop a plan, monitor its implementation closely and adjust it when necessary. Stay the course, and you will be “Ready for the Big Dance” when good times arrive, instead of sitting on the sidelines, wishing you had made some changes.

“A good plan is like a roadmap: it shows the final destination and usually marks the best way to get there…”

                                                            H. Stanley Judd

Let’s take your business to the Next Level!

Was It Time for a Wakeup Call?

I have recently been hearing about organizations that are under “financial duress.” According to reports, they have been losing money for over 10 years and just recently decided to make some adjustments… Of course, there were plenty of “excuses.” First there was COVID, then we couldn’t hire sufficient help, then we saw inflation, the Fed raised interest rates, and, alas, now we are being subjected to tariffs…

As I said, they have now decided to make serious adjustments and develop a plan. Actually, their lenders likely decided that the company needed a plan for change. They may have been reaching a scary point on their “Burn Rate.” This is the amount of time a company has left, given their current rate of losses, before all their equity is gone. For example, if we have $1,000,000 of equity and lose $200,000 per year, we have five years left before all our equity is gone, assuming nothing changes.

This is not a fun position to be in. I also recently learned of a Homeowners Association that plans to assess each of their homeowners $25,000 to compensate for “deferred maintenance” in their community. This is a prime example of how past decisions, or lack thereof, can hurt future generations, because eventually the “toll will get paid…”

It reminds me of the old Sunoco gasoline commercials, where the mechanic suggested that we should be using their high-quality gasoline to minimize engine repairs later. While it was more expensive per gallon, he stated that you can “Pay me now or pay me later.”

I have one question for you to consider. Are there decisions or actions that you have been deferring into the future? Given the current economic situation that has resulted from COVID, hiring challenges, inflation, higher interest rates and/or tariffs, do you need to rethink how & when you might address some challenges in your life or business? If so, start to address them today. The future success of your family, the availability of necessary financing, or your organization’s very survival will be dependent upon it!

As I stated in my last blog, you will be better prepared for success, i.e. “Ready for the Big Dance” when better times arrive, instead of sitting on the sidelines, wishing you were more prepared. If I can assist you with this process, please let me know. It’s what I do best!

“All you need is the plan, the road map, and the courage to press on to your destination.”

                                                            Earl Nightingale

Let’s take your business to the Next Level!

Will You Be Ready for the Big Dance?

There seem to be a lot of downtrodden businesspeople these days. They are discouraged about inflated costs, high interest rates and difficulty getting employees to perform.

When things get tough, “Cost Cutting” often becomes the mantra. To an extent that is fine. However, we cannot simply save our way to prosperity by only cutting costs. If it were true, all we would have to do is reduce our expenses. On the contrary, I suggest that you only cut costs to the extent that it does not hurt the performance of your business.

In 2009, I watched some dairy producers cut back on feed costs to offset the greatly reduced milk prices. While that may have looked okay in the short term, in the long term, it really stymied their operation’s performance. When milk prices rose again, they were not prepared to respond, and cows did not come back into their maximum production very quickly. They were lackluster, at best. Profitability suffered for at least another year.

We are going through another trying period of inflation, high interest & tighter margins. With that in mind, let’s limit our cost reductions to the items that do not directly impact productivity of your business.

Motivational speaker Les Brown tells the story of how, early in his career, he had wanted to be a DJ, a disc jockey. An experienced adult told him that he had to be hungry & ready to take action. He went to a radio station in Miami and was rejected for a DJ position numerous times.

However, on the advice of his mentor, he studied and practiced being a DJ, because he was advised that it was far better to be prepared & not have a job, than to be unprepared when an opportunity did come along. One afternoon, his chance surfaced when another DJ was drinking heavily and could not finish his show. Les Brown stepped in, completed the show, and, as the saying goes, “The rest is history.” However, what would have happened if he, not having a current opportunity, had just not bothered to be prepared?

My point is this. Be prepared. These challenging times with high inflation and higher interest rates won’t last forever. Tough times don’t last, but tough people do!

Watch your costs and adjust them where you can. Just don’t stifle your operation’s productivity in the process, and you will be prepared for success, i.e. “Ready for the Big Dance” when better times arrive, instead of sitting on the sidelines, wishing you were more prepared.

“You gotta be hungry!”

                      Les Brown

Let’s take your business to the Next Level!

What Is the Key to Success?

During a recent trip to Florida to participate as a judge in the North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge contest, my wife and I had a unique experience. On the way to Florida, we stayed in the Nashville, Tennessee area and were on our way out of our hotel when we faced a daunting challenge.

As we were entering the elevator from our third-floor room, she handed me the car keys and suggested that I should drive. That was great, except during the handoff, we didn’t quite connect, and the keys went sliding across the hallway. In fact, it was worse than you might imagine.

The keys slid across the hallway and fell down the elevator shaft. Oops! First, the good news – we had a second set of car keys with us, so we were not “car disabled” for four days. However, my Bride quickly reminded me that our house keys were on that set of keys, along with her nice leather key FOB that we had purchased during a trip to Italy…

Please recall that in prior blogs I have advised you to first outline the objective – in this case, recover the keys.

Then, identify the hurdles and find ways to get around them:

·       Hurdle #1 – It was Sunday afternoon, and no elevator company is open on Sunday, so we talked with the Hotel Manager and were advised that the maintenance man might be helpful.

·       Hurdle #2 – The maintenance man was off until Tuesday… Our solution was to talk with him ASAP Tuesday morning. Unfortunately, he had car problems and came in later than usual. Eventually, he was unable to assist us…

·       Hurdle #3 – While constantly checking with the Manager each day, no one had any suggestions or results for us. Remember – Stay the Course!

·       Hurdle #4 – We asked the Manager Wednesday morning if she had heard back from the elevator company. She claimed she had never said she would call the elevator company, but “Let me check with them today.” Sheesh…

·       Hurdle #5 – We needed to head to Florida for the contest I was supposed to judge. Our departure was scheduled for Thursday morning…

·       Hurdle #6 – In response to our request, the Manager said getting the elevator company to come out and recover the keys from the elevator shaft may cost up to $300. Ouch! However, we reasoned, it might cost that much to duplicate our car key and change the door locks on our house.

·       Hurdle #7 – Always the waiting! We set out and took care of other business that was necessary that day. We felt we had initiated the necessary steps to reach a successful outcome.

Lo and behold. When we returned to our hotel on Wednesday evening around 6 pm, the keys were in an envelope at the front desk with no charge from the elevator company. Wow!

What was the key to our success? Perseverance. Even when we had doubts, we stayed on the task at hand, and kindness & success eventually prevailed. The same holds true for you and your business endeavors. Stay focused. Stay engaged with your goal, and you will get there!

Let’s take your business to the Next Level!