The other evening I sat down to watch the film “Saving Mr. Banks” with my wife. We knew it was based on the relationship between Walt Disney and lady who wrote the book of Mary Poppins, but not much beyond that. It turned out to be a remarkably moving film, and perhaps most importantly the relationship or lack of it between father and daughter. Whilst on the face of it Mary Poppins is a light-hearted musical with an American attempting the worst British accent of all time. In reality there is much more to it, including the dark side of the work ethic, and how parents can easily miss their children growing up, and all the fun things that go with that, if they get too embroiled in their job or their own business. The effect this can have on both children and parents alike can be devastating, perhaps more obviously so on children, but in a more suppressed way on the parents as well.

I suppose the point of this is that yet again it brought home to me the importance of why we do things. To have a job or business that prevents you from spending time with your family or from doing the things you really enjoy in life seems to me to be pointless. So clarity of your goals, and the type of lifestyle you want to lead, and indeed what relationships you want with your family and friends are all essential when planning where you want to take your business.

However, although you should be planning for tomorrow, always remember to live for today. Don’t run the risk of waking up one day, only to find you’ve missed it all, because you’ll never get that time back, and you will have a long time to regret it.

Being patient and persistent is a very important part of making a success of your sales and marketing campaigns. I have been working with a couple of my clients on these fronts quite recently, and I have had to impress this on them because they seem all too willing to give up far too quickly.

If you have decided to do a telemarketing campaign, and after 20 or 30 calls or even 50 have yet to get a qualified lead, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it doesn’t work. You need to keep on at it, modifying the way you say things, or changing your questioning process, until you find the best way to get meetings. It is no good doing a few calls and then get dispirited and give up.

Of course as a business coach it is a big part of my role to keep people going, and to ensure that they do the things they least like doing. With a number of my clients, until they know me, they will act like the child, starting on something, giving up and then hoping I will do it for them. But I am not going to let them get away with this, and I will always throw it back at them to have another go. Sometimes it is cash flows, sometimes business structure, sometimes marketing plans, and whilst I will help them to take the right course, and ask the right questions to lead them to their desired outcome, ultimately it should be up to them to do it.

So “tough love” is the best way forward. If I take it off their hands they will never learn, and will always be dependent on me. However, ultimately if they want a business that can work without them, and the only way for that to happen is to keep on at it until they have learnt what it takes, and they have taught their team the same lessons.

The last week or so has been rather frustrating for me, as I have had a number of meetings cancelled or postponed. The reasons have been varied, but mostly because the sort of businesses I deal with are often family run, and of course at this time of year a lot of people find that family holidays and other commitments tend to take over. Also, the employees of these businesses take holidays as well, and as a result late postponements of meetings can easily occur.

Naturally I am aware of this possibility, but nevertheless it can be a little annoying, and if several people cancel in a row, it can be a little dispiriting as well. However, for those of you who regularly read my blog will know, I am not one for dwelling on the negatives for long, as I know that things will soon improve. In fact last week when I was having a little moan to my team, I quickly realised that not only was this going to drag my employees down too, it also meant that I was far more likely to attract further negative events. Consequently I snapped out of this attitude, and said that I was certain that bad things never continued for long, and that no doubt I would soon be feeling completely different. Within an hour or so of this statement, I received a call from a great new lead and booked a meeting which I am certain will result in more new business. Positive thoughts attracting positive things.

So if you find yourself feeling that the world is against you, don’t dwell on this for long, as it won’t help you to turn things around. If you find it difficult to think positive on your own, call me, because I feel certain that I can help you.