An often heard quote is that the journey is more important than the destination. And while the destination is pretty darn important, I do agree that the journey while often boring (are we there yet?), more often breath-taking (especially when you’re looking back on it), is very educational if you take the time to examine the road followed as well as the one not chosen.
I’ve been on such a journey lately (and know that it’s just now starting — I’ve got a long way to go). And if you’re a business owner you need to get out that roadmap and start your own journey. Hopefully we’ll run into each other at points along the way, share pictures of where we’ve been and give excited descriptions of where we hope to land eventually. This blog is about one of those pictures of where I’ve just been and what it has taught me. Read it along with me and maybe, just maybe, you’ll decide to go to these places too.
The journey I have been on recently has been amazing. I have learned so much about myself, about the things I want for my future, and what I DON’T want. For the past six months, I’ve been working really hard on getting my yearly business retreat put together. And, for much of that time, it wasn’t a very successful venture in my eyes. I defined success as many people knocking on my door, pleading to come along with me. Of course, lots of money would have been nice, but frankly, I didn’t have a real budget set up and never thought what it was going to take to get from point A on the map to point Z. Now however, after the event is over, WOW, can I say that it was certainly God blessed.
Because I know I’ve been on this journey, my eyes have been more open (I had my camera ready for those instant snapshots of the view along the way) and so I realized that I have recently been so frustrated and angry because for 8 years this event has been terrific: great for the attendees, not so much for me. I wanted everyone that came to it, to get the best program – so I let people come for nothing thinking, the more the merrier. Right? Well, no not so much. When only those who truly want to be part of it come, then the air is filled with success. This year that was my model. Only those who paid, came. And people told me over and over what a wonderful event it was.
I learned a great lesson there. Don’t over give, don’t devalue yourself or your product/service, and DO love yourself (and your clients enough) that you give them your best. What I thought was the best, was only mediocre. I never will do that again.
It was also interesting to see that there are so many out there that are, shall I say, not too trustworthy. And that’s something you need to know when working with other businesses. I had 3 speakers (btw – with signed contracts) who backed out – their loss!!!!! One didn’t even bother to tell me he wasn’t going to come. And a couple of business people who got their start thanks to last year’s retreat, who asked to come and talk about how they met and got their business started thanks to the Retreat. I let them come (for no fee) because I wanted people to hear about their “success”. Instead, all they did was sell their services. They were there for 20 minutes (in and out), they talked about all the wonderful things they could do for the attendees and then left. Not a word about how they met, etc. My takeaway? Don’t trust unequivocally. I’m still working on this one. It’s a process at the moment.
All in all though, I learned a lot about myself, what I do, and how I want to share my talents and God’s blessings in the future. I now know where my next stop along the journey will be, the lessons learned from my dream of business ownership so far and hopefully, I can share more pictures and stories along the way.
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