We live in a world where we hear ‘no’ a lot. From the day you are born you are literally hard wired to the word. If you are a parent you will understand exactly what I mean. From the moment our children begin to crawl we adults do everything we can to protect them. After all, we start out naturally curious. As kids we want to get into everything and discover. The problem is, as adults, we recognize the dangers around us and do our best to prevent a little one’s curiosity from causing harm.
As we get older our curiosity changes to fearlessness. In my youth we climbed trees, rode bikes without helmets, and did a variety of things that would scare the average helicopter parent out of their minds. This continues as we look to our future. We dream of being astronauts, artists, dancers, singers, etc. Our elders constantly bring us back to reality. “You should go to school and become an engineer”, or “Why not business? You can make good money there”. We receive small doses of reality until we finally decide on the ‘safe’ thing to do.
As we get older and wiser we continue to look for the safer, less painful option. Our media reinforces the dangers around us. Every day, at any minute, we could die from something. We eventually fear everything we eat, where we travel, whom we vote for, and how we invest our money. Opportunities that are new may appear risky so we turn them away with a quick ‘no’.
Recently I was meeting with a client and we were talking about the achievement of a dream he’d had since he was five. He had always wanted to learn to fly and with the work we have been doing he was finally able to pursue his pilot’s license along with purchasing his own plane.
As you can imagine a plane is a significant investment. Most people would balk at such a purchase. What was interesting to me is my client’s investment was more than paying for itself. You see, he purchased the plane and worked out an agreement for the aircraft to be used for flight lessons for others. Now, the plane was generating twice the revenue compared to the costs of ownership. When I asked him how he was able to achieve this he said something very profound, “When I was looking at purchasing the plane there were several others talking with the sales rep as well. In the end I was the only one who said ‘yes’. Because I did I was able to work out an arrangement where my plane would get preference for flight time”. His dream was paid for because he was open to the opportunity. He said YES!
Our hard-wired No’s cause us to focus on the wrong things. Instead of finding how something can work we reason why it can’t. When that sales call comes in to our office we quickly poo-poo it off as an annoyance instead of listening to see if that person may have a solution we are looking for. The act of protecting ourselves limits our opportunities, it limits our choices and it limits us.
Today we live in a world that is increasingly connected. Competition is greater than ever. Most look at the costs without factoring in the benefits. As a result it’s only the people willing to say ‘yes’ that will achieve more. Which person will you be?
InVision Development International, LLC helps business owners eliminate the obstacles that get in the way of growth. Our strength is helping leaders find the opportunities that help them create the business, and lifestyle they are striving for. If you are a business owner feeling stuck in your business instead of working on your business contact us at www.invisionbusinessdevelopment.com or call 1-800-795-9611.