Why Do You Work?

Good Tuesday morning everyone, I have a question for you, why do you work?

 No, seriously, what motivates you to get up every day and sell merchant services?

I believe most of us will say we work for a paycheck, to build a business, or even to build an asset to sell. But those are all the results of our efforts and still don’t answer the question of why we work.

My youngest daughter is about to finish the 9th grade, we had a conversation over the weekend about school. I asked her up to this point in school what she liked best about it, and she quickly replied, ” She misses Recess.” I laughed and asked why she said recess, “The rest of the day we have to learn stuff. Recess was just for play.” Reminiscing about this conversation made me think again about the answer to the question.

You see, if work was fun all the time it would be called “play,” and we all know that is not the case. There are many instances during the workday where we find ourselves doing something we would rather not be doing. Maybe it’s telling a merchant they were declined or dealing with an irate merchant over something completely out of your control. Sometimes it’s spending time analyzing statements or residual reports. It could even be the hundreds of times we hear the word “No” from merchants.

It’s during these situations where we have all asked ourselves why we’re doing this. The answer does not lie in a paycheck though. For your long-term happiness and job satisfaction, there has to be a better reason to work than simply to get paid. And there is, providing you spend some time setting personal goals.

Please don’t confuse your personal goals with your business goals, like your desire to build the best merchant services processing company. Your business goals are the tools used to reach your personal goals. They help you get what you want so you can reach your personal goals. They are why you work.

Most of us forget this step when setting goals at the beginning of the year. Sure, we may make resolutions or other such desires known, but we often don’t take the time to establish truly measurable personal goals, which must fit a very strict definition.

* They must be tangible.
* They must be visual.
* They must be measurable.

Good examples of tangible goals include planning for a vacation, a new car, or something as simple as learning to play the guitar. A tangible goal is not “to pay off a few bills.” Although it’s a good reason to work, the reward may not justify the negatives associated with working.

Along with your sales plan you need to make a goal binder. This binder consists of pictures of your goal and will remind you every time you have to do something you do not want to do why you are doing it. I recommend cutting pictures out of magazines and pasting them in some fashion that clearly reminds you of your goals, or cut and paste into an album on your tablet or phone.

Ultimately, you have to know the costs associated with your goals so you can factor that into your business goals and measure your efforts. Remember, we do work to put food on the table and striving to be the best merchant services processing company will help. That’s why it is important to add living expenses to the goals you’re working towards.

But remember, you’ll want to break your goals down into small measurable goals. Calculate your monthly expenses and add them to your goal. By the end of the year you may be surprised at what you have accomplished.

In the world of merchant services – as with life, there may be some undesirable things that you will have to do from time to time. The key is that the next time you find yourself doing that one thing you hate, pull out your goal binder and flip through it. I guarantee it will ease the burden you are feeling and help relieve your stress. It will also help you refocus your efforts so you can get back on your way to quickly building your portfolio and your bottom line.

Let me know how you measure and achieve your goals. Contact me blow.