Business in the Unknown

The “Gotta Make Money Now” Mindset

A friend of mine uttered those very words to me today. He’s feeling desperate, and I can understand that emotion. When money is short, as it is for many business owners today, anxiety may not be far behind.

Yet when I think, “I have to make some money,” I am giving control of my life over to money in a perverse sort of worship. It’s fear of poverty gnawing at the soul. In my experience, the idea of having to make some money originates in failure to focus on helping fulfill the needs and desires of others.

So, rather than approach a client with the intention, “I need to bill some more hours,” or a customer with the intention, “I need to make this sale,” what actually works is to ask, “What does my client need from me today?” This shift in thinking yields prosperity for everyone, not merely myself.

How can this be? After all, many of us grew up watching our parents struggle to make ends meet — isn’t that what we’re supposed to do?

No. Somewhere along the line we learned to live a lie. And the lie was that you must go out and take what you want. But that’s not how the Universe really works.

How it works is this: Help others get what they want. Deliver goods and services they perceive as having exceptional value… engage them in a long-term, trusting relationship… and in return your needs and desires will be fulfilled. You don’t do it from a place of want.

You do it from a place of service. Service not merely to your clients and customers, but to your employees, your vendors, your business partners, colleagues, family, and friends.

This is a powerful and imminently practical approach to business.

Of course there are “things to do.” Of course there are decision-making opportunities (sometimes called “problems”). And always there is Action.

But when I place my attention on being of maximum use to those I serve, Right Action arises all by itself.