Would you do it? 🤔 "Do what? But also - yes," you might ask - and that's exactly the point of this week's podcast. If you knew you were going to get a million dollars for taking a benign action, most of us wouldn't think twice before we did it.
Full confession - 👕 I was cleaning out my closet, 👖 donating what I hadn't clearly worn in over a year to the VVA nonprofit to resell in their thrift stores. 👚 As I'm perusing this jam-full closet, my brain is jumping through hoops to make excuses as to why I suddenly may need to wear that shirt tomorrow that I haven't looked at in 2.5 years. 🫣
🧠 Wild the mental gymnastics our brains can flip through. Also wild to think at one time I thought I could pull off a crop top. But I digress...
So - I thought to myself, 🤔 "How many shirts would I throw into that donation pile if I was offered a million dollars to only leave hanging what I actually wore?" I can guarantee you that I wouldn't think twice before another half of my closet found the donation bag.
🤑 I'd do a lot of things for a million bucks - and purging my fashion faux-pas would be an easy one to add to the list of "can do's." 🤔 But why is it so easy for me to purge my ponchos when there's a million bucks on the line, but take away the green stuff, and I suddenly think I can make Mary Janes work at 35!?
Incentive - 💵💵💵 specifically, incentive we can see. 😜
The issue with running a business is that the incentive is often hidden behind time and tasks. 🥸 We aren't sure there's a million bucks on the other side of making that post or going Live on Facebook, so we think up excuses - much like me with the 🤔 "Well, maybe I do need that shirt that's 2 sizes too small."
But how do you know that there isn't a million dollars? 🥧 There's a giant proverbial pie out there - and there's enough slices of said pie to go around. But the catch is - only you can cut your own slice.
💰 And the way small business owners cut their own slice? Put the work in. Put the excuses to bed. Show up. Repeat. Until that million dollars - or that paid-off mortgage, or the kid's college tuition, or the... or whatever that hidden incentive is? Work until you get that.
💳 Work as if you knew someone would give you a million dollars if you did the thing. Whether posting to social consistently, entering your corporate girly era, joining a local chamber meeting, teaching cookie classes, hosting a pop-up - 💰 do it as if you had a million-dollar check waiting for you on the other side - because who knows, there just might be.
Listen to this podcast on all major podcast players (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Pandora...) or by clicking here to listen to Episode 138 - If I Gave You a Million Dollars.