I caught up with a founder who shared his recent lessons learned. The pandemic forced him to shift his in-person educational events to Zoom. The lack of personal interaction initially concerned him. He worried about his customers not being able to interact and build relationships. In the end, he didn’t have a choice, so he decided to make the best of it. Soon, he realized he had an unexpected chance to capture content. He recorded the Zoom sessions and is building a content library and supporting marketing materials. He will offer the content to future customers as well as those he has now.

His story reminded me why he’s an entrepreneur. His positive attitude helped him adapt to a bad situation. Because he sees his glass as half full, he recognized an amazing opportunity and took advantage of it. I loved his outlook and approach. In the end, he exceeded his pre-pandemic expectations.

Sometimes the best-laid plans go awry. It happens to all of us. You did everything you were supposed to, but it wasn’t meant to be. Some things are out of our control. But these hiccups don’t determine whether we ultimately succeed or fail. In my opinion, perspective and response do. How we respond to adversity is 100% within our control. Our response is usually a reflection of our perspective. If we believe the cloud we’re under has a silver lining, chances are we’ll find it.

Next time things don’t go as planned, don’t fret. Consider what you can do to make something good happen.

What motivates an entrepreneur is important. The journey is tough and full of emotional highs and lows, and it usually takes many years. The right motivations help you make it to the finish line. Yesterday I wrote about my why, which is one of my motivators as an entrepreneur.

I’ve noticed a few things about my motivations over the years. I can have more than one at a time. But one—my why—always dwarfs the others. It’s usually the only one that I have strong convictions about. Historically, I’ve been happier with decisions based on it. I call it my one-to-one rule, and it simplifies my decision-making and how I move forward. When I’ve made decisions to satisfy more than one motivation, it just hasn’t turned out as well.

My motivations change over time. I originally was passionate about helping automotive consumers because I was a car enthusiast (still am). Now, it’s helping entrepreneurs (small and medium-sized businesses). Why? Material things matter less as I mature. I still love cars, but not as much as I love people. These days, I’m motivated to help people I can relate to.

Motivations are important. They helped me stay the course during my entrepreneurial journey. Do you know what motivates you?

I recently had a conversation with an aspiring entrepreneur. She’s passionate about an idea and has the technical training to execute it. She asked my opinion on various things, which I happily gave. But she still wasn’t quite sure what to do next. I asked, “What’s the single most important thing you can do right now?” She named something. I suggested she start by taking action on that one thing.

As we talked, I thought about my journey as an entrepreneur. Early on, I was full of ideas and didn’t know where to start. When I was working with others, we could talk endlessly. Sometimes the sheer number of possibilities felt paralyzing. Indeed, sometimes I was paralyzed. Over time, I learned that one thing matters: action. It was action that would change a situation. It was action that would turn my vision into a reality. It was action that would separate us from others. At a certain point, I had to stop talking and start doing.

That lesson took me years to learn, but I’m glad I did. Taking action on something, even when the way forward isn’t 100% clear, has been my key to progress. It changed my life.

I’m encouraged by the positive conversations we’re having as a nation about race and police brutality. They’re overdue and they’re helping us gain the understanding of one another that we so badly need. As you have these conversations, consider asking yourself a simple question after each one: “What action am I going to take now?”

Today marks my ninetieth consecutive day of sharing my thoughts in posts. (I previously described how this started.) I recently spoke with a peer about my experience. He’s considering doing it too and wanted to ask me a few questions. By the time we finished chatting, I had had an epiphany: I understand things better when I share my thoughts widely.

I tend to think deeply about things. I try to understand by identifying connections that aren’t obvious. I used to ruminate and perhaps talk with one or two people very close to me. That approach was flawed. It didn’t help me achieve my ultimate goal: understanding.

It was a mistake to not share my thoughts or to do so only with a few like-minded people. I avoided opening up to others with different perspectives who would test my thinking or point out my blind spots (we all have them). I wasn’t really trying to understand, because I wasn’t talking to people who would be likelier to disagree with me. Naturally, I saw things only through the lens of my life experiences. My reality. I would come to understand an issue, or think I did, but since I looked at it only from my own narrow angle, I ended up missing things.

Sharing my thoughts broadly invites feedback. It sparks great conversations—opportunities for me to listen. I get glimpses of other people’s realities. I see things from their angle! I’ve learned that truly understanding something means getting as close as possible to a 360-degree view of it. The more people I talk to who are different from me, the closer I get to that goal.

Sharing my thoughts daily has illuminated all of this. Sometimes my initial thinking is wrong. (Whose isn’t?) When I share my thoughts with the world, I’m inviting others to help me acquire true understanding. Each person bridges a gap in that 360-degree circle.

I didn’t envision understanding things better as a benefit of sharing when I began posting every day, but it is, and I’m thankful for it.

I encourage everyone to share their thoughts more widely. It doesn’t have to be through writing; do it in a way that works for you. When you get feedback, listen. You’ll understand things much better.

In an earlier post, I shared my views on the power of listening to understand. I’ve continued to think about how we can help each other through this turmoil.

As CCAW grew, our team grew. I was no longer involved in every decision or even aware of every initiative. An empowered team making decisions without me was my goal. Inevitably, some decisions didn’t result in the desired outcome. Translation: things blew up sometimes.

No one is perfect, and my team members had good intentions. We were all in it together, working to build a great company. Naturally, we sometimes had different ideas about how to do it. Our different perspectives were valuable and often lead to amazing outcomes. But sometimes they caused us to miss the mark.

By the time something reached my desk, it usually meant a decision had worked out poorly. Instead of beating a dead horse, I learned to focus on the reasons for the decision. Why did you do it that way? Why was that the chosen path? What led up to you making that decision? Asking these questions was far more valuable than casting blame. I listened with the intent to understand, and ultimately, I did—I understood their why. Then I was able to work with them to develop solutions that supported their why.

Understanding why begets perspective. More importantly, it gives insight into the other person’s perspective. Understanding why someone makes the choices they do is a building block in (or even the foundation of) the positive working relationship required to achieve a common goal.

We’re all in this together, but that doesn’t mean we all see things the same way. Consider listening to understand why. When you do, you can begin to see things from a different perspective.

You might be interested in this short video about Colin Kaepernick's and Army veteran Nate Boyer’s desire to understand one another. It led Nate to “understand that we’re not that different, and we probably want the same things at the end of the day” and to a compromise that incorporated both perspectives.

Be part of the solution. Understand why.

I’ve been thinking deeply about what’s needed to see us through these troubling times. I shared some things I’ve learned in yesterday’s post. Today, as I sorted through my thoughts, I read a quote that resonated with me:

Try to understand men. If you understand each other you will be kind to each other. Knowing a man well never leads to hate and almost always leads to love.

                                                                ~ John Steinbeck

The best way to understand someone is to listen to them—to not just hear their words, but to pay attention to what they believe and what they feel. When we understand each other, we can relate to each other. When we relate to each other, we can appreciate our differences and love each other. If we don’t listen, or we let their words flow by while we formulate our rebuttal, or we mindlessly dismiss them, we will not understand them (and we will give them no chance to understand us).

So where do we start? No one knows what the solution looks like. That makes it hard to know what to do. As an entrepreneur, I’ve learned the power of taking a step in the right direction even when the path is nearly invisible. Often, I had no idea what I was doing, but I sorted it out as I went along. Always, I kept my eye on the outcome I hoped for. I see our current state of affairs as no different.

If you want to take that first step, here’s my suggestion:

Reach out to someone with a background different than yours—someone with a perspective on life that you might not understand. Ask them if they’re OK and if they want to talk. If they say yes, just listen.

This act is simple but powerful. Anyone can do it. You might be interested in this short video about one person who did it and how it affected the person he struck up a conversation with. If many of us do it, we will open lines of communication that will lead to what we sorely need: an understanding of each other.

Be part of the solution.

There’s nothing new under the sun. What happens today is the past with a twist. Think of a remake of a classic movie. Same storyline, new cast, better technology, bigger budget, a few plot tweaks.

Why am I talking about this? Simple . . . knowing it’s true improves the likelihood that I’ll achieve my goals. Being aware of the past improves my decision making at critical junctures. I’m less likely to make fateful decisions at forks in the road that jeopardize what I’m trying to do.

I’ve embraced history more than ever before. It never excited me in school. In fact, I hated it. Now, I enjoy it. It’s a vast trove of experiences to draw upon. The more I learn about history, the more clearly I see the present and understand what I need to do today and in the future.

I think that entrepreneurs should study history—at least the part of it that’s most relevant to them. History is full of great entrepreneurs who built amazing companies. Their stories may not make or break your journey, but they will inform it . . . inspire it . . . add interest to it.

Next time you’re in a difficult situation, consider: “What is this a remake of?”

Today I had a great conversation with investors. They mentioned how important it is to say no quickly. Their thesis is simple: you want to have straightforward criteria that allow you to quickly recognize when you can’t move forward. One example: an entrepreneur either is or isn’t a solo founder. An investor who has decided not to invest in solo founders won’t waste time and energy considering a solo founder’s startup. Listening to this reminded me of my early days at CCAW and how I learned this lesson the hard way.

Before we had a steady vendor base, I had to make cold calls and sell vendors on doing business with us. Courting tons of vendors and getting them to agree to partner with a company they’d never heard of was time consuming. Sometimes, after agreeing to terms, I would learn it wasn’t feasible to do business with them. A couple of common issues were that they didn’t have electronic products or couldn’t provide pricing data. They’d say something like, “Just call us and we’ll give you whatever you need.” I’d spent valuable time and energy on a relationship that would never go anywhere. It was frustrating, to say the least.

I eventually created a checklist of questions to ask vendors early on. It focused heavily on their technical and operational capabilities. If their answer to any of the questions was no, it wasn’t a good fit and I walked away. Over time, I refined the checklist to the point that we spent time only on partnerships that were a perfect match.

Define your bottom line and quickly say no when someone can’t meet your standards. You’ll find a lot of value in this, personally and professionally. We all get the same 24 hours; how we use them is what separates us. Walk away sooner rather than later from relationships that can’t progress.

How do you manage your time more effectively?

Today, someone asked for my perspective on the future. I gave it to him, adding the caveat that I can’t make sense of a lot of things happening right now because I lack the experience. He also wanted to share his thoughts about a new venture he’s considering.

As we talked, I learned more about this potential business, his evaluation, and his timetable. He’s sought the perspective of other entrepreneurs, researched the space extensively, and seriously thought through how to make it work with his personal situation. I was impressed.

I described how I started CCAW. My analysis wasn’t sophisticated. I had knowledge about a space and relationships in it. I saw a problem I thought I could solve. I tested to see what would happen and started the company when my hypothesis was confirmed.

To be fair to myself, I was only a few years removed from being a broke college student. I didn’t have any real responsibilities. My evaluation could be simple because the risk of ruin wasn’t a big deal. And I believe I did one critical thing right: I trusted my gut. I didn’t overthink and overanalyze. (I actually didn’t analyze much at all.) My gut said it was a good opportunity, so I ran with it. CCAW eventually reached eight figures in revenue (while turning a profit), so it worked out in the end.

At the tail end of our conversation, I asked, “What does your gut tell you?” His reply? “I should wait. There’s too much uncertainty in the business model and the timing doesn’t feel right.” I didn’t tell him this, but I agreed 100%.

The next time you’re trying to make an important decision, before you analyze, before you seek opinions, be honest with yourself. Listen to your gut first.

Has your gut helped you in your decision-making?  

This past week I hit a mental wall. Working from home and being under a stay-at-home order for four weeks definitely were the root causes this time. But even before the pandemic, every so often I—like everyone, I imagine—have had days when it’s noticeably more challenging to operate at peak productivity.

Over the years, I’ve become more self-aware and have noticed patterns in my work style. For example, I’ve usually been more productive and better able to concentrate for extended periods early in the morning. And I’ve identified the types of tasks at which I excel—and at which I don’t. I’m very good at identifying opportunities for improvement, finding the root causes of problems, and crafting creative ways to reach a goal when it seems impossible. I’m not as great at generating a ton of new ideas rapidly or moving from thing to thing in rapid-fire succession.

Even with all this self-awareness, there are still days when I’m just not as productive as usual. Over time, I’ve learned to embrace those days rather than fight them. No matter how much I want to operate at my peak, I’m only human. Earlier in my career, I would keep pushing myself and beating myself up all day. That didn’t work. Now, I acknowledge that I’m having an off day and adjust my expectations for the day. This usually means doing more check-the-box things, ending my workday earlier, and starting over the next day. I also take a moment to consider why I’m off. Sometimes it’s because of physical or mental exhaustion. Other times nonwork things are all I can think about.

Sometimes entrepreneurs are portrayed as machines who can accomplish impossible things. While it’s true that entrepreneurs make the impossible possible, we are far from being machines. The next time you’re struggling, consider embracing your off day. Think a bit about why it’s occurring. It could be nothing to worry about, or (especially if it’s not a one-off) it could be an indicator that something important is amiss that you need to pay attention to. (You’re steering your business down the wrong path? Your marriage is foundering?) Regardless, know that you’re not alone—everyone has off days.

What’s your approach to handling off days?