You put hours into the planning and creation of your video, article, interview or content piece… you put it out there eagerly awaiting the likes, loves and comments…

…and… 3 likes!!!

Awww man :( sound familiar?

It’s hard not to take it personally right?!

It may even affect your performance and productivity for the rest of the day! OR, perhaps you even say to yourself… “maybe I’m just not good at video” or…

…“I suck at writing” …and stop doing it altogether!

That’s ok, in high school English class Mrs Wilcox told me the same thing! But I digress.

When we stop creating and producing value for others, business grinds to a halt. In fact, one of the biggest keys to success in business is our consistency: the ability to consistently deliver value to our audience, clients and customers.

…which can become a big problem if our productivity and performance is at the mercy of our mood.

I’ve spoken at length about how emotion impacts on our ability to persevere. You can check out the article here on the neuroscience-based research study I conducted on the subject, so I won’t go into detail here on that topic. However, I do want to address the seemingly insightful, albeit completely impractical piece of advice that “you are NOT your business”.

Clearly, we can never actually be our business, after all we’re human and a business is not. That said, we can “become” our business. How? When our identity is so wrapped up in our business it’s hard to see the difference.

On the other hand, our business wouldn’t exist without us, because we’re the driving force behind the vision, behind the mission. We are the creators, the innovators, the relationship builders, which also comes from being human!

In other words, whilst the idea that “you are NOT your business” makes some sense, I don’t think the idea in-and-of-itself is in any way useful for making it a success.

So… I want to come at this from a completely different angle, to provide a brain-based perspective on why I’ve raised the issue of (you either “are” or “are not” your business”), as well as a strategy for dealing with the problems that arise from acting as though “we ARE our business”.

We know from Neuroscience that as we move through life and have experiences that the brain creates categories: Is this good or bad? Friend or Foe? Should I avoid it or move towards it? A very efficient system for conserving energy for survival purposes.

This would be great if we still lived in the environment that existed 10’s of thousands of years ago, where survival was our only real priority.

Of course we don’t live in that world anymore, and so whilst our brain loves to default to such a simple dichotomous operating system, we need to be mindful of the complexities of business (and life) so we can make the sorts of decisions that allow us to build the successful businesses, and have the kinds of experiences that we want.

I would suggest, therefore, regardless of how the brain wants to simplify things, it can never be as simple as “you are NOT your business” or as simple as “yes, you are”. It’s a much more complex, dynamic, ever-changing process. And yes, we can have greater control over the interplay of the “I” and “business”, by being more mindful.

To be more mindful, in this context, means to be more aware of the categories that our mind-brain has created, the biases we bring to decision-making, the emotional reactivity that we sometimes have — and to bring ourselves into a more aware and conscious state of being where we are taking information in through the senses, or noticing our internal state, without judgement.

Being more mindful allows us to see each and every situation, experience or event closer to reality — so that we can detach the emotionally reactive part of ourselves “awww crap only 3 likes” from the behavior that may be required (such as keep shooting videos or writing articles), so that we can continue moving forward and achieve what we set out to achieve.

Of course this isn’t the only strategy for managing such a issue, particularly if the behavior is nothing more than extrinsically motivated. Ie., the only reason we create something is to receive the validation, the likes, loves, comments, or even the financial reward.

However, using our attention mindfully provides us with the space and mental resources to mitigate our biases, to make strategic decisions, and to become more self-aware so we don’t fall into the trap of acting as though we ARE our business. Or, fall prey to the brain’s need to dichotomize such a concept which may often leave one wondering exactly how “I” and “business” even work together efficiently.

Be Great!
- Ramon

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Perfectionism is holding you back!

How do I know?

I once spent weeks preparing to create the “perfect” online product.

Drove 1000 miles looking for the perfect location to film.

Spent 3 days on location getting set up and waiting for the perfect time of the day for lighting.

Carted 200lbs of equipment on to a remote beach (that was spectacular by the way) to get the perfect shot. (and dragged my dad along as my cameraman)

Pushed for 2 very long days of filming.

I thought it was going to be perfect!

And in the end we scrapped the project. But even if we didn’t, do you think anyone would have really cared about any of that?!

So yes, I’ve been at the extreme end of “perfectionism” — and it cost me, big!

What’s it costing you?

Do you ever say to yourself…

I need to wait because of this thing, or I’m just waiting on X first before I do it. Or…

When this other thing happens, then I’ll start. Or…

It has to be this way or that way, or it has to look a certain way before I’m ready.

Or any of the other BS you tell yourself that prevents you from taking action?

If you’re delaying action for any reason, or you’ve convinced yourself that what you’re creating isn’t ready, or good enough, or you’re attached to having it be a perfect representation of what’s in your mind… you’ve fallen into the perfectionist trap.

“Perfection” holds us back. It slows us down. It’s a trap we create, a construction in our mind, an expectation that’s been set based on… you ready for it?

It’s based on what we’ve seen others do, achieve, accomplish, or create!

Perfectionism is comparison in disguise!

It’s a standard we’ve set based on what we’ve seen others do. And it’s like a deadly virus that keeps us locked in our house, never to see the true beauty of the outside world.

Perfectionism is not about producing good quality work, or showing up as our best. The very definition of perfectionism is “refusal to accept any standard short of perfection”.

Perfect for who? You? Your clients? Your industry? The world?

Perfection means “the condition, state, or quality of being free or as free as possible from all flaws or defects”.

Dude, we’re human beings, not robots!

Some might say “yeah Ramon but I want to produce my best quality work”. But if you never actually produce anything because you’re always “waiting for the perfect conditions”, how do you even know if it’s any good?

So, how do we get out of this trap? By focusing on progress, NOT perfection!

Progress > Perfection

If we see every video we shoot, article we write, or sales interaction as just another “practice session” on the journey towards mastering our craft, we not only progress much faster but we begin to enjoy it more as our level of skill rises to meet the level of challenge — and we enter the blissful state known as flow.

The key here is that this is about your journey, your progress, your experience. Not a comparison to someone else’s.

Every time I write, shoot a video, create a product or deliver training, I tell myself it’s just another opportunity to practice, and then I can focus on being in the moment more, being more creative, having more fun with it and seeing what magic will spontaneously come out.

Look, perfectionism is a disease.

Comparison is killing our creativity and contribution.

Make a commitment, starting today, that whatever it is that you’ve been holding off on, that you’ve delayed until the “perfect conditions” or the “right time” or to get it “just right”, make a commitment that whatever it is, to do it today!

Doesn’t matter what it is. Doesn’t matter how it turns out. This is about practicing the skill of taking action, of progressing, and getting out of the perfectionist trap.

What are you waiting for?

Get out there, and be great!
- Ramon

Thanks for reading!

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