Business Is A Tough Gig
Always Think BIG!
I read a blog post this morning, written by a blogger in her 40’s, about how successful people all have rituals. One of them being how they start their day.
She wrote that she’s adopting some of these rituals. But not all. And she ended the post with these words: “But alas, I’m taking it in baby steps so that I don’t bite off more than I can chew.”
This is why people fail. They don’t think BIG enough. Their goals are so small, and so unchallenging, they get bored halfway through. And don’t commit to see anything through to the end.
The one thing all successful people have in common is they think on a very BIG, unrealistic, irrational scale.
I will first clarify success.
Success does not equal money. Plenty of people with money are NOT successful. Especially people with inherited money. And people who are crooks in business. That’s not successful.
Success means your life is greatly improved under your own steam. You’ve made things happen in your life that makes your life worth living. And makes you proud of your achievements. As well as improving the lives of others because of what you do.
And this thinking BIG means you’re taking yourself out of your comfort zone to achieve what others think are unrealistic goals.
Think Barbra Streisand. As a little girl. Told by her mother she is unattractive. She dreamt of nothing but appearing on Broadway. It was her life’s ambition. And she spent her whole life taking the steps required. Always zig zag steps. No one gets to where they are in a straight line. Until she lands her first Broadway role in ‘I Can Get it For You Wholesale’.
Think Bill and Melinda Gates. What they do for others with their vision is outstanding. They have very BIG dreams. And look at where they are today because of them. None of it has been easy. And they haven’t met all their targets. But because their dreams and goals are so BIG, they keep pushing ahead to make sure that one day they will achieve them.
Deciding to get up one hour earlier every morning is not enough to challenge you to do this long term.
What is challenging — is getting up one hour earlier in the morning to do/become — what will it be for you? What in your life is a big enough challenge to make you want to change your wake up time to achieve it? And make it a permanent habit?
I know a father — who is a late in life first time father — whose BIG dream is to be the best father. Best husband. Best provider for his family that ever walked the earth.
Now that he has a young baby. 6 months old. He gets up two hours earlier than normal. Wakes his daughter. Gets her ready to go out. And they go out together shopping in the early morning. At a local grocery store that opens at 5am. He likes shopping. And his doing it gives his wife extra time during the day.
His daughter is the centre of attention at the store. And it exposes her to a world of different people. Which makes her more confident and outgoing.
He’s back home at 7am. And at work in his business that he owns by 8am. He’s back home to put her to bed. Spend genuine quality time with his beloved wife for 2–3 hours. Then works again until midnight. His companies turn over $100M per year.
None of this is a breeze for him. To many of his friends who have children, they are unrealistic goals. He has conflicts of interest all the time. There could be an emergency at his company. Or he has to be in another city. But these are his goals. And his dreams. And he pulls out all stops to make sure he’s organised. And prepared. To meet his goals for his family. And his businesses. And to make sure his dreams come true.
Composers. Athletes. Musicians. Fundraisers. Artists. Performers. Community heroes. Who have BIG, unrealistic dreams. Realise them. Because they keep working towards those dreams.
They live with rejection. After rejection. After rejection.
Until one day. Whoa! They’ve arrived.
And then change those dreams into even more unrealistic challenges. Because they’ve tasted success. And don’t want to lose it. They want to climb a bigger mountain.
Red Balloon. Started in Australia by Naomi Simson. What she’s done with this company is nothing short of sensational.
When my partner, Victor Pleshev, the architect who designed the Fitz Like A Glove™ Ironing Board Cover for his mother. And I started The Fitz Like A Glove™ Ironing Board Cover And Other Goodies in 1994. We had nothing.
We were broke. Read Our Story. How We Built a Worldwide Business From Broke.
We also had no idea what we were doing launching The Fitz Like A Glove™ Ironing Board Cover into the world of retail. With NO previous experience.
But we had BIG ideas of where we wanted to take this product. And after 23 years. We are somewhere. 400,000 customers in 30 countries. And we’re still growing. Because I have even BIGGER, unrealistic goals. That I will meet just because they’re BIG enough. And absurd enough. And by most people’s logic, so unrealistic. That they will keep me challenged. Interested. And motivated. And take me to places most people never dream possible.
I’m always intrigued at the number of people who ask in amazement, “Can you really make a living out of ironing board covers? No one irons anymore!”
How many times have I heard that? Not true. There are enough homes in Australia that still have an iron. And an ironing board. And those boards need covers.
Don’t think small. Don’t take baby steps. You’re an adult. And adults take giant steps.
Be foolish in your dreams. Be unrealistic in what you want. Be outrageous to the point of giddiness. This is why Richard Branson, with no money to start with, but with BIG dreams and an even BIGGER vision of what’s possible, is where he is today.
Please! Don’t use your advanced age to hold you back. I met a man of 92 who has plans for the next ten years. Which is probably why he is an agile. And ‘young’ man. At 92. Going on 50.
The best time to think BIG is now!
~Carol Jones, Ironing Diva❤
Life Behind The Scenes With The Ironing Diva are my stories about how my partner, Victor Pleshev, and I created a new life out of the ashes of Australia’s ‘recession we had to have’. How did we design 8 products? And get them to market? How did we build a worldwide business from broke? How did we carve out a rural lifestyle that is the envy of our friends? And our customers? How did we create a beautiful hectare of garden out of a barren paddock sitting atop an infertile rock shelf? It wasn’t easy. But this is the business and the lifestyle that we built from scratch. The Fitz Like A Glove™ Ironing Board Cover And Other Goodies.
