Ask Yourself “In What Ways” Can it Get Any Better?

Anita Campbell was featured in an article on Aaron Wall’s SEOBook the other day as he interviewed her on how she saw the mindset of small business owners in today’s economic environment.  As I was reading the article, I found myself wondering if it was possible to get teary-eyed over a business article (how nerdy is THAT)?

Entrepreneurs Are More Optimistic Than Everyone Else

In the interview, Anita mentions that entrepreneurs and small business owners are more optimistic than most people with a certain can-do attitude.  And this is what inspired me today.    Maybe because we’re just too busy creating opportunities and possibilities to listen to the news or take what the mainstream says is possible or not possible into consideration.

It seems that no matter what the economy dishes out, the entrepreneurial spirit refuses to be pushed down.  And when you survey entrepreneurs, one consistent attribute that you’ll find is gratitude for what they’ve achieved thus far (even if it was negative) and instead of asking “IF” things could get better or worse, the HAPPY entrepreneur asks “HOW” can it get better or they ask “In what ways” can it get better?

Why Am I Sharing This?

I’m sharing this because it’s easy to get caught up in the superficial things that happen throughout the day.  So easy, in fact, that when the day is done, you wonder how you got there.

Taking the time out to ask yourself “In what ways” things can get better puts your brain into creative mode.  It (your brain) starts instantly looking for a list of answers:

- My day could be better if I had some ice cream

- My day could be better if I make someone smile

- My day could be better if I solved a problem, got a new idea, gave of myself.

In What Ways Can You Make Your Customer’s Lives Better

All this asking might lead you to think about your customers and ask “In what ways can I make my customers’ lives better?”  This is the magic question.  Just ask it today.  Simply asking it will put it to work in the back of your brain and get you thinking about the possibilities.

Don’t look for big things – it’s the little things that matter.  A friend of mine made my day better by simply taking time out of his ridiculously busy schedule to forward a friend’s resume to a colleague.  This took him 5 minutes maybe – but he could have just as well taken those 5 minutes to do something else.  Instead, he made MY day better.  Thanks David.

His action prompted me to think about what I could do to make things better for someone I know — I signed up for an amazing program offered by TJ McCue (http://www.saleskickstart.com/) - an online sales expert.  I wanted to learn how to improve my site for online sales.  I was his first customer for a new offering — HE helped me more than he could even realize.

So I’m asking you – In what ways can it get any better?