The Path to Greatness

This Week's Summary:

Learned: Always learning

Planning: Take the plan to action

Business idea: Lost revenue

Vet Opp: Time at K2

I met: USA Citizen

Stoic Quote of the Week

If one doesn't know his mistakes, he won't want to correct them.

-Seneca

What I learned this week:

At the beginning of every episode of our podcast, 10X Your Team with Cam & Otis, I say the introduction, which contains the phrase, "…other lifelong learners…" That's a long time to learn and a long to believe that you really don't know it all. I've been doing this stuff a very long time, and by stuff, I mean everything from repairing something in the house to giving a keynote to building a team that wins. With my tenure in all these activities, I find myself asking what I can learn because I've got this. There is a difference between I got this, and I can learn more. I can always learn a new approach and a different view. 'I got this' is the confidence to execute what I have at that moment, knowing that I will achieve the best outcome I can, maybe not the outcome I want, but the outcome I get. When I get that, I know that I can learn from my journey to the outcome. That method is ingrained in who I am. I continue to ask myself, can I learn something from that book, seminar, masterclass, etc.? I look at those as different and cast judgment on those resources based on my perception of them and my judgment of my knowledge level of that event. When I think about speaking, I know I'm a speaker, and know I am confident and present well. Am I good enough to educate and entertain a group of people? Yes. Am I good enough to not get more training? No. There are so many little things that I can adjust and do differently that will make my presentation better and help me connect better with the audience. The measurement I have to take is that this event being offered will improve what I believe I need to work on. I always want to be better, but being better requires understanding what I am missing and what I need to work on. Vince Lombardi once said that perfection cannot be achieved, but in pursuit of perfection, greatness is achieved. As long as I remember that there is always room for improvement because perfection is not attainable, I will always have space to learn more and be better at what I do.

Planning thought of the week:

The plan is only a plan. A plan is not the same as action. Action takes courage, no matter how good your plan is. A perfect plan cannot exist because no one can predict the future. Can you guess good? Of course, the more you do the action, the better you will get at planning for the action. The plan creates the framework to follow into action, but it is not absolute because the plan is for actions in the future, and no one can tell you the future. You can prepare for it with a plan; that is all you can do.

Business idea I heard about or thought of:

Ms. Suzanne and I had a date night last week on our way home from the airport. We occasionally go to a restaurant in Castle Rock called La Loma. We arrived near the end of the dinner rush on a Thursday evening. When we checked in with the hostess, she said the wait would be 45 minutes to an hour for a table for two. Ugh, there's no way I'm waiting that long. Fortunately, Ms. Suzanne spotted a couple of seats at the bar. While we sat there sipping on our drinks and munching on chips and salsa, I saw five different parties of four to six patrons come in and check in with the hostess to be told the same thing: we were a 45-minute wait. They walked out. I just watched money leave the business. As a business owner, I was shocked. Each group of four at this restaurant is worth $150 per table for a 90-minute sitting. In the few minutes I sat there watching before becoming distracted by our entre, I watched $1000 in revenue walk out the door! The margins are tight in the food industry, and in my unplanned data collection, say 15 minutes, I watched the restaurant lose $1000. Let's do some quick math. That's $4000 per hour, and let's say the dinner rush lasts 3 hours than $12,000 walking out the door on a Thursday night! What's it like on a Friday or Saturday? I realize there are limits to seating and staff, but to watch $12K of revenue walk out your door three times a week is $36K a week; multiply that by 52 weeks, which is $1.8M in a year! WOW! No wonder restaurants have trouble staying open. Any business will have trouble if they allow $1.8M of unrealized revenue in their total addressable market not to be captured. I don't have a solution to fix this. If you want to whiteboard this out with me sometime, give me a shout.

Veteran opportunity of the week:

If you spent time at K2 (Karshi Kanabad) you need to make sure you are tracking your health. There is some nasty stuff in the ground at K2. I spent a night there on my way to Kabul one time. I'm glad it was only a night. You can learn more about the support program and benefits here: Karshi-Khanabad Airbase Exposures.

Someone I met this week:

One of our good friends became a US Citizen this week. It is really cool to be reminded of the official process that is still happening and that law-abiding people still follow. It isn't easy or without its stacks of paperwork and hiccups along the way. It can be frustrating and drawn out for anyone who follows the process. At the end of all the process and paperwork, there is a ceremony, and each person is issued their naturalized citizen papers to have, hold, and safeguard as their proof. They all raise their right hand and take their oath to become a citizen of the United States of America. It's a beautiful thing to see because all we hear about is people illegally entering the country. There are still plenty of people following the legal process to become citizens and being proud of their status as new citizens of this great country.

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You're Stronger Than You Think - Robert Hamilton Owens | 10x Your Team with Cam & Otis Ep.?#363.

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