Benchmarking: "Where am I?"

Do you remember what you had for lunch yesterday?

How about the day before? Sometimes I’m going along and realize, “Man, I’m hungry, I gotta go find something to eat.” If I’m home, I go scrounge in the fridge hunting for left-overs. Otherwise I might go out and buy something (spending money – and time – I’d rather not).

Sometimes I tell myself, in the middle of these quests for food, that next time I’ll think this lunch thing through before I get to “I’m hungry.” I’ll pack something the night before. I’m going to look through my pantry, the fridge, the freezer, start making shopping lists and get this thing locked down. That would be a good habit and there’s good reason for establishing it.

The problem I’m highlighting is ‘Reactiveness.’ It’s what happens when there’s no plan or the plan’s very undefined. Sometimes whole days can feel that way. Sometimes, our whole life feels that way. When there’s no solid agenda, the squeaky wheel gets the grease – and isn’t it amazing how there always seems to be another squeaky wheel!

How shall we stop being reactive? First, we’ve got to take stock of the situation, take an inventory, get all the data we can about ourselves and where we are. All for the sake of a sandwich? I’m not just talking about a sandwich. I’m talking about your time, your life – your life-time. The only time you get.

Let’s up the stakes shall we: You’re stranded in the middle of the amazon jungle, you have no idea where you are – what’s the first thing you do? You don’t panic. You don’t start running in any which direction. It’s time to survive. Every moment counts, every choice matters. You’re going to check yourself over, look at your resources, and get your bearings. And then you’re going to do whatever it takes – because this is your life on the line.

Are you hungry? Are you tired of living reactively? Are you ready to get a firmer hand on your life and your business? Do the honest assessment.

Here’s a sampling of questions from Contractor Nation’s School of Entrepreneurship exercise on Benchmarking to help you:

On a scale of 1-10, rate how “in control” you feel about your business.

What was your net income last year? (Salary + profit + personal vehicles/expenses, etc)

If your business doesn’t change, what will the rest of your life be like? Explain.

Has your business had a positive impact on your family, a negative impact, or mixed? Explain.

What would you say are your problems in improving your business?

• Confidence I know I’m doing the right thing?

• Courage to change?

• Knowing what to do?

What are five things you know you should be doing but aren’t?

Why do you want to succeed?

That last question is part of a bigger question that we’ll be looking at next week: “What do I want?”

See you then.