Believe in Yourself

Embarrassingly, as many readers are aware, Australia has gone through seven prime ministers in the last ten years. The latest PM, Scott Morrison, only assumed the job eight months ago and across the last weekend the nation went to the polls to decide what to do with him.

I must admit that I love elections and I can’t help myself as I’m glued to the television for the evening as the fate of the nation unfolds. Democracy is an amazing process and sadly, I think I've bored all my family and friends on my love for the topic over the years. Democracy is when an entire nation sits on a knife edge as the people determine who has the right to lead them….it’s incredible!

What happened to Mr. Morrison? He won, and in my opinion, there was a very good reason why the people of Australia voted for him. All the opinion polls were against him but he won anyway….why was that?

In the post-election interviews a common theme emerged from the newly elected members of parliament. They shared about how Scott Morrison had an unshakable belief in himself. Despite all of the reasons to think otherwise, the newly endorsed Australian prime minister knew exactly how and what he had to communicate with the Australian people. He didn’t waver in his message and he was constant in its application.

Rather than oscillating on whether he should change based upon the latest opinion poll he maintained a personal conviction and message throughout the campaign. Clearly this resonated with voters as they voted him back into office.

This singular focus should be the same in business. So many businesses get side-tracked by supposed opportunities that eventually they expend all their resources chasing the wind. This is particularly true for new businesses where cash is their number one resource and it's often the underlying constraint. Never forget, the golden rule for new start-ups is protect the cash!

When you think of your own business, are you trying to do too many different things? There’s always an array of snake-oil salesman eager to distract you with another "great idea" but are you focused on what really matters.

Often, one of the most difficult things any businessperson can say is, “No”. That partnership sounds fantastic but “no” we will not be pursuing it at this time. The deal looks awesome but “no” we’ve decided to really focus on what matters to our business. It’s by learning to say “No” that you stack the odds in your favour to become a great success.

Being able to say “no” comes from an unshakable belief in yourself and what your business is doing. Stop equivocating, put aside those "great" opportunities and this week make a decision to get focused on what really matters to your business.

Have a great day.
Michael Gilmour