The lifetime-value of Courage

The lifetime-value of courage.

I’ve been reading several books on the concepts of money. How to spend it, save it, and invest it. I often think, “Man, if I had more money, I could invest more, then I’d have more money.” All true from an investor stand point.

In business, I’ve often thought, “Man, if I had more money, I could start doing this, or advertising like that, and that could probably make me a lot more money.”

We've all heard the tired old adage of “It takes money to make money”.

But of all the investments known to man, the most underrated commodity is...courage.

-Courage is what it takes to call on a potential prospect.
-Courage is what it takes ask someone on a date, or complete a relationship when it’s no longer serving both parties.
-Courage is what it takes to ask for a referral, and even more courage to call that person.
-Courage is what it takes to apply for a job or college that seems so far out of reach but brims on the edge of “possible”.
-Courage is what it takes to admit a mistake you made even though it may risk the relationship, but also builds the trust necessary for a life long friend or client.
-Courage is what’s required to join a group to make new friends when you risk being an outsider.
-Courage is required to look at the areas of your life and admit what’s not working, and even more courage to find the answers in a book or in a person, and still even more courage to start making changes.
-It takes courage to say YES, it takes courage to say NO

That compounding value of courage in business or personal life is the difference of a life well lived, and a life of regret.

Life is going to happen the way it happens irrespective of what you want. Courage is like our little access card to influencing others and situations to such that they move in the direction aligned with our values and goals. 

True, money can make you more money. BUT courage...courage is like a printing press. It's the one asset we all have that can literally print money from thin air no matter your current circumstances.

Who's worth the time?

I'm having a great time working through the experience of only spending time with people who want to spend time with me. More from a business and professional stand point than anything. Massive marketing efforts will yield a lot of activity in the pipeline. I think it's important to remember as business people, when we ramp up our efforts we WILL experience a greater number of people who don't care for what we do or choose not to do business with us BUT we don't do it FOR them, do we? 

My heart of hearts believes that business is more like a courting process than anything else. The more we clutch on to each potential person who doesn't match with our values, the more opportunities we miss out with those that do.

Nobody is meant for everyone, and that's probably a good thing. Facebook puts a cap on # of friends for a reason. We were meant to connect. Being real, and being genuine are the only way that we attract the right people into our lives. 

There's a special person hidden in the crevices and shadows of the streets we call life. They could be our #1 client, a future spouse, that friendship we've been praying for. BUT it's difficult to find them when we're trying so hard to impress everyone. Embrace your humanity, work hard, and love people.

The Desire to Want

My son is 7 months old now and he’s developing the desire to want. Currently he can only sit up, but I’ve noticed that he started reaching for things.

There’s this green ball he plays with that some times rolls away. Before he’d just cry until one of us walked over, picked it up, and handed it to him. Now he leans forward and REACHES. It’s fascinating for any parent to see their child do something new, but I think there’s an important component to human life going on…the desire to WANT.

Wanting creates action. 

Wanting causes us to face fears.

Wanting causes us to change attitudes and behaviors.

Wanting inspires learning.

Wanting allows us to leave the past behind.

Why? Because wanting creates tension. “I’m HERE, that’s over THERE.” Then we are forced to deal with whatever there is to deal with to close that gap and the only way for our wants to be fulfilled is for “US to go to IT, or IT to come to US.” 

If we keep giving him the ball when it rolls away, he’ll miss out on one of the greatest experiences of life: the experience of DESIRE and the necessity to grow-change-move-act for it’s attainment. 

It's important to let people want. Let people reach. Let people fall. Let people learn. Let people win.