You're Tired Because You're Doing the Wrong Thing, the Wrong Way

My second installment of Michael Gerber’s BizTechDay presentation is very personal for me. There are several things he said that hit me like a bolt out of the blue and propelled me into action.

He said “you’re tired because you’re doing the wrong thing, the wrong way”, and “burnout means you are working with energy you no longer have”. I had been feeling exhausted and burned out for over a year when I came down with some illness that laid me up for over a month. I couldn’t do much of anything; even thinking was too much effort. So, I relaxed into what was, and discovered what I really wanted to do next. I realized I had been doing what I “should”, rather than what I’m passionate about. I had a lot of rational reasons for this, but while I was recovering I understood what all my explanations were -- excuses for not living the kind of life I really want. That illness was a blessing!

Another thing Michael said was truly hard for me to hear, but I absolutely knew it was true for me: “It’s not because you don’t have the time; it’s because you don’t have the will”. I felt like someone had thrown a bucket of cold water over my head and woke me up. This was an incredibly valuable insight.

He made some other valuable points:

• There is no reason for a small business to fail.
• To realize your dream, the first thing to systematize is your client fulfillment system.
• Sometimes one must shut off income in order to make space to create.
• It’s about clarity. Be articulate and communicate the extraordinary gift you are bringing to the world.
• No one is going to do it for you -- it happens when you do it.
• Discover what you are capable of replicating, and what you cannot.
• Dream big, think small, act smaller.

He said he created his system on the fly, promoted it first, and then created it as he went along. This information was extremely useful for me as I tend to want everything perfect before I start, a mind set which frequently keeps me in analysis paralysis.

So, the price of admission to BizTechDay was a bargain. I was inspired by Michael Gerber to jump start my Powerful Aging Coaching Group, “Change the Way You Age”. And, just as inspiring is the impact he is making at age 73--still going strong, providing great value and inspiring others. I really admire this!

BizTechDay Star - Michael Gerber - Part 1

Of everything I attended at BizTechDay, Michael Gerber’s presentations stood out as the best of the best. Why? Because everything else was about using technology as an entrepreneur, and Michael’s was about the entrepreneur, the person behind the technology. All the technology in the world will not help an entrepreneur who lacks the appropriate mindset, or who lacks the insights required to succeed.

Michael gave us all this and more. And the most inspiring thing to me is that Michael is 73 years old and still going strong and contributing his gifts to the world. That inspires me because my vision and mission is to change the meme around aging, change the way people think and feel about aging, and inspire elders to share their wisdom.

Some of the first words out of his mouth were shocking, “If you don’t want to grow your business, pack it up now”. So, in easily digestible nuggets, here are some of the main points Michael made:

• Ask yourself three questions: What is the significant thing my company is here to do? Is it scalable? Is it transformational?
• Work on the model of your scalable, transformational business. Become a Master of Business Design (MBD).
• Create a perfect system that works so you don’t have to.
• This exquisite operating system includes every single component of your business.
• It makes no difference what product or a service you offer. This exquisite system is the key to success.

• Companies are started by Technicians who suffer entrepreneurial seizures; don’t just create a job, pretending to be a business.
• Replicate a company that is transformational.
• The very first system to create is client fulfillment.

Next Michael talked about the Dream and Creativity:

• What is your dream? What is the great result you want to produce?
• It’s about your destiny and you’ve got to know what it is -- the one thing you want to transform.
• Be creative right now in your own personal economy.
• The Dreamer has a Dream, the Thinker has the Vision.
• The Dreamer, Thinker, Storyteller, and the Leader must be present to create and sustain a successful business.
• We must transcend to transform! This is the spiritual work of an entrepreneur.

He said one must absolutely have a blank sheet of paper and a beginners mind, because you can’t fix a broken business, you have to create a new one. Think about this for your own business. I did this about mine, and it propelled me into right action.

I’ll have more juicy tidbits in the next post. Watch for it!