Going Forward from Core Values
Building a business is like building a construction project. You need to know what you want the end product to be. You need to know what you have to work with. You need to have a plan for building and then build accordingly.
Who you are is like the ground you build on.
Just like building on sand is different than building on clay. You need to know who you are and then build the business so that you will be able to support it. Your why is the thing that supports everything else. This is who you were made to be.
Previous posts about this –
- A Successful Business Needs a Good Foundation
- Building Your Business on Solid Ground
- Knowing Your Why is the Key to Unlocking Your Success
Next comes the foundation. This is your core values. The things that you choose based on what you believe. These can be different for different people.
Just like foundations can be different depending on what they’re built on, there are some things that are required regardless of what the ground is like. The foundation is more flexible than the ground it’s built on. It can be modified and improved.
It’s important to be clear on your core values.
Previous post about this –
- Build Your Business on a Solid Foundation
- Core Values are Where Success Begins
- Core Values are Where Success Begins, Part 2
Now that you have a solid foundation built on solid ground you can start framing.
This part is where it’s really important to have a plan. There are a lot of different styles of building, and you need to have clarity.
I know that when I started my construction business, I thought I knew what I was doing. Then after several years of struggling, I decided that what I was doing wasn’t working. I concluded that this mess was just how construction and my life were going to be.
I was aware of the problems but didn’t know what to do.
Then I had an “aha” moment. It involved being smacked upside the head.
In December of 2012, I was literally hit in the head with a board. It was a pretty big one too (a 14’ long 2×12 plank).
We were installing wafer board boxing to the second-floor wall of an addition. I was standing on the plank approximately 8’ above the ground when it broke. Luckily, I don’t remember any of the ordeal from the time I was measuring until I woke up in the hospital three days later. Based on what I was told, I fell, I hit my head on one of the ladders, then on the concrete slab, and then the board hit me in the head.
It sure is good that I have a hard head. Seriously, I was fortunate that I came away from this accident with only a concussion.
The reason I’m telling you this is that while I was recovering I read The Traveler’s Gift by Andy Andrews. I really connected with this story and where I was.
Forty-six-year-old David Ponder feels like a total failure. Once a high-flying executive in a Fortune 500 company, he now works a part-time, minimum wage job and struggles to support his family. Then, an even greater crisis hits: his daughter becomes ill, and he can’t afford to get her the medical help she needs.
When his car skids on an icy road, he wonders if he even cares to survive the crash.
But an extraordinary experience awaits David Ponder. He finds himself traveling back in time, meeting leaders and heroes at crucial moments in their lives—from Abraham Lincoln to Anne Frank. By the time his journey is over, he has received seven secrets for success—and a second chance. The Traveler’s Gift offers a modern-day parable of one man’s choices—and the attitudes that make the difference between failure and success.
After reading this book I realized that if things were going to change, I would have to do something. I was the one who had control. I had the power of choice.
Next week we’ll look at the Seven Decisions presented to David Ponder and how I incorporated them in my life.
You can incorporate them in your life too.