What is the Point...?

At a recent UK conference with around 120 Martial Arts specialists, World Champions, Gold Medal Winners and Cage Fighters; I asked the audience a question.

Put your hand up if the only reason you do Martial Arts is for the money…?

There was a silence, everyone looked around at each other, feet were shuffled then one of the top fighters called out…

“If we were in it for the money, we’d work in Luxembourg like you….”

No one put their hand up – a room full of 120 fighters all staring at me was quite intimidating.

So, I asked them another question…

What was the highlight of your 2019 year so far…?

They chattered and smiled, thinking of a positive highlight was much more engaging – and they didn’t look like they were going to kill me anymore either which was a good thing…

As I went around the room the answers were surprising and moving…

For some, it was seeing a student overcome the fear of being bullied, building their confidence and personality so they were left alone in the playground…

For others, it was seeing a student achieve an award, a Black Belt, a First Dan or a Medal…

And for others, it was the feedback from parents regarding the transformational effect the training had on the daughter or son – how they were more disciplined, generous or just tidied their room on the weekend.

No one mentioned Sales, Profit or Cash…

Then I asked them,

What was the emotion you experienced when you received the feedback, witnessed the award or saw the improvements…?

They thought for a while and began to call out…

“Happiness, Pride, Relief…”

As they settled down, I kept going…

So, would it be fair to suggest that the reason you do what you do is actually the emotions you feel when something significant or positive happens to you, your students and their families...?

They agreed it was – in fact, they agreed the real reason they did whet they did was because of the enjoyment they got as a result of others doing well – they did it because it made them feel HAPPY.

Three States of Being.

In Business and Life, we generally experience three main States, we are either Unhappy, Content or Happy.

Clearly, we want to avoid the UNHAPPY zone although too many people live and work in this zone almost exclusively.

The majority of people sit in the CONTENT zone, just ticking along, neither happy nor sad just simply...

Meh…!

Occasionally we all experience HAPPINESS – it is fleeting, short-lived and evaporates quickly but it is these injections of adrenaline that we remember, that engage and excite us – and if we are truthful with ourselves…

It is this Happiness we crave and the reason we do what we do – when was the last time you got excited that all TPS Reports had been submitted on time…?

No one I’ve ever met wants their career or business to be just “Meh…”

They want the feeling of achievement, success, fulfillment but they focus on the wrong things; things such as Sales, Profit, and Cash for example.

Zappos, the Las Vegas-based online retailer have its Mission stated as “Delivering Happiness” – they know if they do that consistently and feel good about it the Sales look after themselves.

But Happiness doesn’t pay the bills…!

What I find in business is that if we focus just on the money, business is tough.

If we focus on delivering the product or service that consistently delivers the emotions of Happiness, Pride, and Relief as expressed by the Martial Artists, miraculously the money and profits tend to look after themselves.

The Principle of Precession, or the Law of Precession if you are so inclined, suggests that actions and reactions to activities, actions and focus arrive at a 90-degree angle or Perpendicular to the Focus and Attention we give.

If we all provide levels of customer service and support, whether to internal or external clients, to a level where we see them improve, develop and grow because of our actions – so we get the HAPPY feeling.

Then it usually follows that they become raving fans, tell people how amazing we are, and the business grows – not as a consequence of focussing on the money, but rather a focus on the activities that make us and our customers happy.

Perhaps we are simply in the Happiness Business after all – for our clients and for ourselves…