Staying the Course

October 1, 2009

This isn’t a profession (few are) where you merely to something right and wait for the rewards to rain down. You have to do the right things continually.

Your clients may love you, but your prospects are not privy to that relationship. You must convey it in the form of testimonials, references, and referrals. If you’re not asking for these, then how do you convey the great work you’ve already done, and significant relationships you’ve already formed?

When is the last time you added testimonials to your materials, Internet presence, and conversation? This is a moving picture, not a snapshot.

Your methodology might be working just dandy for a decade. When is the last time you bothered to improve it? Minor details such as society, technology, and the economy change. Have you? What was 98 percent effective five years ago is probably 60 percent effective now. What have you done to streamline and adjust your approaches?

Here’s a telltale indicator: If your locus of learning has been almost entirely internal over the past few years, you’re not developing. If you have not been attending workshops, or participating in mastermind groups (in which you are not the most successful person), or engaging in learning experiences of some sort with others, then you’re simply in a state of mental atrophy. Even if these activities simply validate what you’re doing, you need them to calibrate your effectiveness.

You’ve all seen the people who loiter in the halls during the workshops. They feel they know too much to actually sit inside, and instead share war stories over coffee, lying to each other about how great they’re doing. They track their email if they are forced to sit in a session. They know it all, why should they listen? They only tell.

Here’s what I know: I’m constantly surprised at how stupid I was two weeks ago. But, daily, I’m doing something about it.