If you track the success of the most successful people on our planet, you will find that they all have one thing in common … they are decision makers. In his book, ”The Success Principles,”Jack Canfield talks about not settling for less than you want.
“When you are confronted with a choice, no matter how small or insignificant, act as if you have a preference.”
Jack Canfield then goes on to say that not being clear about what you want becomes a habit. Now, there is a spiritual principle at work here that most people would ignore but, the Bible refers to it as being double minded and says that “a double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” Gills Exposition of the Bible puts this in a way that explains it best:
unstable in all his ways; he is confused in his mind; restless in his thoughts, unsettled in his designs and intentions; inconstant in his petitions; uncertain in his notions and opinion of things; and very variable in his actions, and especially in matters of religion; he is always changing, and never at a point, but at a continual uncertainty, both in a way of thinking and doing: he never continues long either in an opinion, or in a practice, but is ever shifting and moving.
I confess, I have been as guilty as charged and I’m sure if you’re reading this, you’ll be able to identify with times when you’ve been indecisive too. The important thing is to track that pattern of indecision and then ask yourself how much it has cost you in both the short-term and long-term. It’s hard isn’t it, because there is no scalable ROI but, whether there is or whether there isn’t you are being robbed, by you! Some of the ways we become double minded in our business include:
- What line of business to pursue – online, this can be a total brain-drain and resource-drain as you try to decide on your keywords depending on your target market
- Who you will do business with – whether client or outsource partner, decide what kind of person you work with best and don’t compromise. I’ve turned down business before (some would say “stupid”) because I knew that I wouldn’t be able to satisfy or help the client in the best way
- How to broadcast your business – online or offline and which media formats to use. This one can be hard but, you have to take into account your target market and where they congregate but, the Dr’s surgery is NOT the place to start dropping business cards. This is called “pray and spray marketing.”
- What price to set – listen to me … set your price and stick to it! Make your mind up before you publish it that this is the price. Everyone won’t be able to afford it, but as my solicitor friend says, “you can’t shop in Harrods and expect to pay Primark prices!”
Listen To Your Heart, Not Your Head
Some years back when I just started out in this business, someone came to me and said he wanted two identical blogs, one for him and the other for his girlfriend since they would be entering a podcast competition. He stressed I don’t know how many times that these were identical sites and so in other words, he didn’t want to pay the price of two blogs. I agreed that it would be a little easier and set my price. And then his blog outline arrived in my inbox and looked nothing like we had agreed. I wanted to go back and say this project was much bigger than I thought, but I thought it looked unprofessional and, despite my solicitor friend telling me why I should go back and renegotiate the price and, despite restless nights and restless days, I took the contract on. I also agreed that this client could pay 50% upfront and the remainder after the work is done, something I never do and, I’ll explain this later.
Let me tell you, everything that could go wrong with this project, did go wrong! I spent weeks on what was about a $900 contract! If I had listened to my heart and not my head, I would have re-negitiated the price and insisted on payment upfront as is my usual policy. But I didn’t, I was still fairly new business and back then was weak in my approach.
Sticking To Your Decision
This same client came back to me about a year later and asked me to do a site for a friend of his. I gave him my price and told him it was payment upfront. He tried to negotiate hard, moving from offering 50% up to 75% and I said no every time. As far as I was concerned, he could have offered 98% and I would still have said no. Why? Alex Mandossian taught me a lesson that I have had to learn the hard way because I didn’t listen to him. He tells all of his students that if someone is trifling over price at the negotiation stage, how difficult will it be to work with them once the contract begins. I had worked with this client once already and knew how demanding he was and so why would I want to put myself in that position a second time? Could I have done with the money at that time?
Yes, but I was clear about my intentions and what I wanted and I wasn’t about to be double minded or indecisive.
You give in once, and you’ll always keep giving in and then wonder why you can’t reach the next level in your business and personal life. You have to stick to your guns! I don’t have time to expand on it in this post, which is much longer than I wanted it to be, but, in the next few days, I’ll write another article on the spiritual principle of compromise.
About Trish Jones