What’s On My Mind
I’ve been thinking a lot about happiness lately.
I’ve gotten dozens of notes the last few weeks about how GrowBIG Training has changed people‘s lives.
Notes from people that took the training a decade ago.
Notes from people we worked with the day before.
Here’s one I got today:
That was probably one of the best trainings I have ever been in. Can’t wait to put this stuff into action.
Psyched!
I’ve gotten short notes like that one.
And other notes that have been long, detailing how the training has impacted their career and families over years.
These notes got me wondering.
Why?
I’ve thought about that a lot.
And I think it comes down to one thing.
Control.
Control on a daily basis.
And control over your life.
Let’s dig into daily first.
Self-control has a strong correlation to happiness.
(Science alert!)
Dr. Tracy Cheung and her team studied people with high Trait Self-Control, what researchers call TSC.
TSC is the ability to do something hard, even if you’re dreading it.
Here are Tracy’s team’s own words:
Results suggest that people with higher TSC are happier possibly because they are: (1) more promotion-focused on acquiring positive gains thereby facilitating more approach-oriented behaviors, and (2) less prevention-focused on avoiding losses thereby reducing avoidance-oriented behaviors.
That’s a bit heavy, but you get the idea: doing the hard stuff focuses your mind on positive potential gains.
Let’s face it: doing BD tasks can be hard. Reaching out to help people you don’t know well. Offering to be helpful to a prospect when you’re slammed. Coordinating internal efforts, getting everyone on the same page.
On a daily basis, you’ll feel better about yourself by dialing up your TSC and putting forth the effort.
Consistently reaching out, going above and beyond, adding value, even when you’re busy.
These short-term TSC bursts, consistently investing in your clients, your teams and your future have a long-term impact.
Short-term control creates long-term control.
This long-term control over your life is even deeper, even more important.
The results are broad, including bringing in more of the kind of work you want.
More work means you get to choose the work you want to do.
Choosing the work you want to do lets you share the rest, building up your team.
Having a larger and more productive team means positively impacting more people: your growing team, partners and clients.
And positively impacting more people means more work will come your way.
It’s funny.
You’ll be busier in the short term as you win more work.
But in the long term?
You gain control.
Control over your career.
Everyone wants a rainmaker.
Control to do the work you want.
Everyone likes some tasks over others.
Control to live the life you want.
Everyone wants to make a difference.
Being a rainmaker brings economic freedom and an ever growing platform.
Ever growing tools to help others.
I have a dream about this. How we at BIG can help others.
I hope people walk in the door to GrowBIG Training thinking…
I hope I learn a few things to grow my book of business, relationships and career.
But I hope they walk out the door thinking…
I’m going to use this stuff to live the life I want.
Mo