You can always tell if someone is really enjoying what they do or if they are simply phoning it in – just going through the motions.
I spoke with the owner of an independent jewellers recently, who clearly loved her work. I was buying my wife some earrings and asked the owner for some help. She spoke with genuine passion and interest and her knowledge was incredible.
As I paid for the earrings, I told the owner that it was clear that she loved what she did. She replied that she has been fascinated with jewellery since she was a child and had always wanted to work in the profession. She started off working in a jewellers as a Saturday job when she was a kid, then got a full time job, slowly working her way up to store manager, before buying her first shop.
When we are not interested in what we do, it also shows
Just as a passion for what we do is reflected in our performance and results, when we do something we don’t really enjoy it also shows.
For instance, I love using Google+ and have a network of 17,000 people there. Google+ drives more visitors to my sites than all the other social networks combined and is a constant source of creative inspiration and business leads. I also love to use Twitter and 7,000 people connect with me there.
Then there’s Facebook. As anyone who knows me will confirm, I really don’t like using Facebook. And it shows! Just 1,000 people have ‘liked’ my Facebook page, because I deliberately do very little to promote it and chose to focus my energy on Google+ and Twitter instead. I know how to develop great social networks, but when it comes to Facebook, I dislike the experience too much to spend the time required there.
An alternative to doing what you dislike
If there are areas of your business that you don’t enjoy, consider replacing them with better alternatives. If you dislike selling, do what I do and attract leads instead. This blog drives sales of my audio program and client inquiries every day. If you dislike doing the paperwork, hire someone who loves it and watch your productivity and profitability improve.
In short: We have two options. We can learn to fall in love with the elements of our business that we currently dislike. We can find better alternatives. Simply going through the motions is a low leverage approach.
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