Dreams and Building Empires

Dreams

We all have them.

Not just the kind when we sleep, but the more important ones – the ones we have when we’re awake.

They come to us when we’re driving home from work, when we go for a long run, when we reminisce over war stories with an old friend.

These dreams usually spark something deep within us.  They excite something dormant; something we didn’t know existed…at least for a moment.

In most cases, as quickly as they come, they go; they pass through us unscathingly, with us no worse (or better) for wear.

But sometimes…

Epiphanies Happen

Sometimes they come and hit us like a ton of bricks.

That feint twinge of excitement in our gut becomes a blinding vision of what could be…

The image is crystalline; the emotion is palpable; we see everything as if for the first time, with brilliant clarity and gratitude.

The dream isn’t a dream any longer – it becomes something tangible, something that physically moves us.

It scathes us and leaves a mark, for better (or worse).

What Happens Next…

But even the exhilaration, the rush of an epiphany fades.

And we’re left stuck in traffic, or struggling with an incline, or realizing our stories are mostly embellishment now…

All people experience something like this at some point in their lives.  It might not happen with quite the same intensity, but every person experiences moments of understanding, appreciation, and possibility followed by a fall back into reality.

And the majority will go back to work the same way as they did before the dream.  They will lay bricks for a day’s wage.

It’s the reasonable thing to do.

It’s the realistic thing to do.

Dreams are silly anyway - real life matters more...

The majority will, but not everyone.

Some Choose a Different Course

A few will go back to work differently.

Their actions will take on the power of purpose, their goals the strength of intention.  They won’t lay bricks for a day’s wage, but to build their own castle.

It’s the unreasonable thing to do.

It’s the unrealistic thing to do.

But dreams matter – sometimes more than real life…

“Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones.” [The Silver Chair]

What will you do with your dreams?

 


p.s. let us know in the comments what you're working on - and more importantly, why you're working on it.  We want to hear!

p.p.s. Subscribe to The Resistance Broadcast and get the help you need to complete your worthwhile project, build your empire, and create your life's work.

 

 

Life is paradoxicalOpposites

We think pain and pleasure or love and hate are opposites of one another.

We think of these emotions as opposite ends of the spectrum, as if each lies on either side of a single line.

pain --------------------------------- pleasure

love --------------------------------- hate

This couldn't be further from the truth.  

In either case, they are simply variations of one another; unique but related; two sides of the same coin.

But they are not opposites.

In both cases, we are experiencing some kind of emotion.  Whether you experience pain or pleasure, love or hate, you are still experiencing something.  So the opposite of pain isn't pleasure, nor is the opposite of pleasure pain.

The opposite of both is numbness – it is indifference – it is nothing.

When a project breaks, we might experience anger at ourselves because we failed, fear that this case isn't unique and that we might never succeed, or jealousy of others for effortlessly accomplishing that which we suffer for daily to create.

When a goal comes to fruition, we might experience joy in its realization, pride that we have accomplished so much, or gratitude that we were given such an unlikely opportunity, with such an unlikely skill set, in such an unlikely environment, to make our dreams reality.

In either case, we are experiencing the emotions of someone who cares.

If you want to experience the latter, you must be willing to experience the former; that's the price you pay when you care, when you're invested in the outcome, when you're committed.  But if you'd prefer to never feel the anger, fear, or jealousy of failure – the pain of failure – then you only have one option: become indifferent.

Stop caring.

Avoid commitment.

Indulge in the emotional morphine of indifference and all the pain goes away; and so does all the pleasure, all the happiness, all the joy.

You can't have one without the other.

That's the paradox; that's the battlefield; that's the choice.

"The opposite of love's indifference." [The Lumineers]


Never fight alone.  Join the Resistance:

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It’s so simple but so often neglected:

 Care about your customers and they’ll care about you.

"If you care about your customers, you will spend much of your spare time thinking about how your products can improve their lives.  That kind of thinking will lead directly to thoughts about how you can increase efficiency, improve quality, expand customer service – all of which will lead to increased revenues."

Michael Masterson

Or, as Gary Vaynerchuk puts it: give a $%&# about the customer (and employees) and develop a relationship with each customer.

Now, more than ever, developing a meaningful connection with each and every customer is essential for business survival.  Why?  Because the internet and social media have transformed the business-customer interaction.

While big companies were lifeless, anonymous robot factories throughout the 20th century, now social media allows that same business to put a face to a name and deal one-on-one with each customer.

Because the internet allows us to reach globally and cluster based on interest, it has created a small-town mentality for every niche.

The advent of the internet and social media has facilitated the convergence of two very powerful concepts:

  1. Immediate feedback
  2. Word of mouth as power

In 1984, if your Sony Discman didn’t work as advertised, you would complain to those around you.  Your complaints might influence the purchase of a few close friends.  

Word of mouth had very little impact.

In 2012, when the newest iOS update has a map glitch, you can blog or tweet to thousands of listeners, and they can push the message even further.  

The word-of-mouth impact is magnitudes greater.

Depending on the reaction, this can be a positive stepping stone towards deeper, meaningful conversation, or it can kill the relationship between the customer and the business.

This phenomenon has helped many small, but passionate businesses become game-changers (Zappos).

It’s also destroying bigger companies that can't wrap their heads around why we don't want to deal with a robot or a labyrinth of menus in the (vain) hopes of speaking with a human being (Comcast).

And while big companies can get away with second-rate service for a while, the stage is set for new businesses with personal connections at their core to disrupt the status quo.

Why? 

Because people will pay a premium for service.

How can you (or your brand, company, gang, tribe) build that connection?  Below are 4 ways to improve your business:

1) Act like a human being

Listen and respond to questions and concerns people have.  Sending blanket emails or pushing products is not acting like a human, unless you're a very boring human that people don't like - stop self-promoting all the time!

2) Be a human being 

No more robot menus...pick up the phone!

3) Tailor the experience to the individual 

That means making every interaction unique.  This works better in some professions than others, but anyone from doctors to chemical engineers could use this advice to improve interactions with their coworkers or customers.

4) Genuinely Care 

There's no tactic, shortcut, or life hack for this one.  Sorry folks.

One last thing: building a relationship takes YEARS.  This isn't a quarterly marketing campaign - it's a lifestyle of caring.

That takes heart and perseverance.  It takes grit.

So here's the question: how do you create real, deep connections with your customers (and do you think it's even worth it)?

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