Happy New Year!

What if you could rate the quality of your business life by answering three simple questions? Can’t be that easy, right? Well it is…

I recently came across this little test in Michael Masterson’s
brand new book “The The Pledge: Your Master Plan For An Abundant Life.”  If you may not be familiar with Michael, he is the creator of the award winning e-Newsletter Early to Rise, now with 450,000 subscribers, he is a NY Times best-selling author, and he has also grown multiple businesses past the $50 million mark.

Here are the three questions:

1. What do you do?
2. With whom?
3. Where?

He says: “the amount of joy you have every day depends so much on making these three wise selections.”

So let’s review…

1. This is the business or industry you are in.
2. This is the business associates and people you choose to surround yourself with.
3. This is the place you choose to live and do business from.

Inside the book there is a great ten-question questionnaire for each of the three sections that will give you a score in each of the three areas to assist you in assigning a rating to each area. This will really open your eyes to where you stand and may even help you get unstuck if you feel stuck or stagnant in your business right now.

Here’s the problem - most people have made these decisions without much thought. In fact, most sort of stumble into their business situation without taking the time to research, recognize trends, understand the competition, determine if there is even a demand for your product or service, etc. Even more stumble into their business relationships, almost by default. Not good. And as far as location, I’m often amazed at how many people live and work in miserable locations when it’s never been easier than it is today to get up and move and choose a great environment. I did this in 2006 when I literally got up one day and chose to leave New York and move to Miami. Best decision of my life.

The bad news here, as a result of this little test I want you to take, is there’s a very good chance you may find you are in the wrong business or industry right now. This is the most common. The business just may not be scalable, may not be unique enough, may be dated, may not cash flow well and may not provide continuity or residual income, and if it does, it may not be enough to sustain your cost of living (often the case). The quicker you catch on to this and not let your emotional attachment to any product or industry get in the way of necessary change, the better off you’ll be and long term and ultimately, the happier your life will be. Guaranteed.

The good news here, you can change things rather quickly nowadays due to technology, the speed of the New Economy, and the abundance of business opportunities available. As far as the people you choose to surround yourself with and associate with, well, some of them may have to go. And new relationships will need to be acquired. Not easy to hear, but often the reality. And the place you choose to live and work, that’s easier to fix than you may think. You can do business virtually anywhere today.

All of these are often times just a decision. Nothing more, nothing less. It’s the meaning we attach to the decisions that often cripple us the most, not the decisions themselves…

So take the test. Get the book, The Pledge, to dig down even deeper. This is the perfect exercise to start a New Year. Don’t overlook it…

Best,

Andrew J. Cass