Wrong thinkers would have us to believe—incorrectly—that the world is a soft, squishy, fuzzy, place of peace, platitudes……..sort of nirvana-esque. ‘Taint necessarily so. The real world is a place of “against.” People against people; systems opposing people; philosophies in conflict with philosophies; ideas at odds with one another……it’s a messy, chaotic, and somewhat dangerous place. Always has been, and always will be.

I go squishy soft when I’m in the presence of a baby, don’t you? Fat babies, sleeping babies, crying babies, laughing babies, slobbery poopy babies……..wow! Who wouldn’t love a baby?

I was reading in the Gospel of Mathew this morning and noticed that the very first thing that happened to baby Jesus was someone tried to kill him—when he was a baby! He hadn’t preached an offensive sermon, violated any religious code of conduct, or challenged authority. The most offensive thing he could have produced up to that moment was a really malodorous diaper. Yet right after his birth, the government marked him for death.

Hmmm.

Soft? Fuzzy? Squishy? Peaceful? NO!

Against.

What I take from that lesson is this: in this world you will have much trouble (Jesus said that). It is a place that is “against” occupied by people who are “against” and any notion of permanent ease and peacefulness this side of Heaven is folly. But I also know that Jesus said “I have overcome the world.” Even in this dangerous place we can live in joy, with happiness and confidence.

I’m going to have a great day. It may or may not  be an easy one, we’ll see. But it’s going to be a good one and I will rest my head on my pillow tonight and sleep soundly knowing that I have done my best to make it better, to make a difference for others, and maximally use the life He’s given to me.

Even in the darkness you can choose to walk in the light.

Godin says bad behavior and irrationality are driven by fear. Fear motivates, not necessarily in the right direction, but it indeed does energize. So, If you want an answer to the question “Why?” ask this question: What are you afraid of? That’s a great question to add to the toolbox in addition to one that we already use: Where are you lacking confidence right now?

Hmmm.

If you want to change behavior, address the fear.

Hmmmm.

What chance is there that you are holding back, sabotaging yourself, short circuiting your success because you are afraid?

If you want to change the behavior, address your fears.

Hmmm. I think I like it……

The phone isn’t ringing.

Nobody is calling to say “Please come buy my house.” Nobody is calling saying “Can I please rent this house?” Nobody is calling saying “Can I please invest some money?”

The phone isn’t ringing.

When the phone isn’t ringing I look for reasons. It’s Spring Break. It’s too rainy and nobody wants to get out. The sun is shining and everybody is gone to the park (lake, river, whatever). It’s the holiday weekend. Yada yada yada.

For those of us in the sales business it is demoralizing—emotionally debilitating and a waste of energy—to focus on why the phone isn’t ringing. We can’t stare at the phone and cause it to ring.

We’re very much like farmers. A farmer’s job is to prepare the soil, plant the seed, and wait. The rain may or may not come on schedule. The season may be too cool, too hot, or just right. But for centuries farmers who have planted seeds have consistently gotten a crop. Some years better than others, but a consistently over the years we get more crops than we don’t. Sometimes bountiful. Sometimes skinny. But harvests are consistent events for people who sow seeds.

Our job is to prepare ground and plant seeds. We try to avoid stupid things like planting seeds right before Winter or at the beginning of Summer, or failing to plant seeds at the beginning of Springtime. But we don’t focus too much on wishing for rain, or that it would quit raining. We don’t control rain and sun. We control preparing ground and planting seeds.

Much of life’s pain would be relieved if we’d let go of what we cannot control, and focus on the things that we can control.

An ancient book of wisdom written by one of the world’s greatest salesmen says “In due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary.” It’s interesting that he didn’t say “In due time we shall reap.” Why did he ad the “weary” part? Because this business if sowing and reaping has just enough uncertainty to it to keep us off balance and to cause us to lose our focus—to grow weary of the things we can’t control and to give up our sowing enterprise.

When you are weary like I am, don’t lose heart. Surround yourself with people who refuse to lose heart. Don’t focus on the weariness of sowing, or the “worry-ness” of why the rain and sun aren’t coming in perfect proportions exactly on schedule. Instead, focus on the faithful truth that today’s reapers are yesterday’s sowers, and those who grow too weary to sow, experience 100% crop failure.

Now I think I’ll go down to Nixa Hardware and buy some seeds……….

An entrepreneur’s stock in trade is confidence. When he has no confidence, he can’t function because entrepreneurism is fraught with risk—emotional and financial danger, risk to employees, risk to investors, risk to the family. More than one entrepreneur has bit the dust financially and lost everything they own because their business fell apart. So remaining confident in the face of danger is important.

The team that surrounds the entrepreneur exists to “guard his flank” by being sure the enterprise functions properly and successfully. The Flank Guards surround the entrepreneur like the Secret Service surrounds the President. As dangers pop up, the Flank Guards knock them down and keep the entrepreneur protected—more specifically keep his confidence high—so he can continue to creatively fleshing out the vision for the enterprise he is leading.

I’ve found that as my confidence increases my emotions de-celerate. They slow down. I’m not as jumpy—hasty—edgy—nasty. I’m nicer to people when I am confident. I am more patient and more flexible? I am the me I like.

Why is confidence emotionally decelerating? Because an entrepreneur is always guarding his enterprise. He’s always on edge, protecting the baby from danger. Sometimes it seems like there are mercenaries inside and outside the organization who are intent on screwing it up—damaging the baby; Shutting off the revenue; Increasing the expenses;  Draining the bank account; But when the entrepreneur is confident that his flanks are well-guarded and the dangers are protected against, he begins to relax; to not push so hard. His fear that “they” are going to “screw it up” begins to diminish. That’s why confidence is so important.

If you are an entrepreneur you should ask yourself “What am I afraid of? Where am I lacking confidence?” Answering those questions will tell you where you need to focus your attention.

If you work for an entrepreneur you should ask “What can I do to increase my boss’ confidence? Am I executing my responsibilities so he feels like his flanks are guarded?”

A successful bigger future begins with increasing your confidence today.