One day I got a message from my friend Peter with a subject line that read, \u201cI just turned down $10,000…\u201d He finished the sentence in the body of the message with, \u201cand it feels great.\u201d<\/p>\n
Peter went on to describe a project he was working on that felt less and less like a good fit for him the longer he worked on it. He gathered his courage and ended the relationship.<\/p>\n
He also knew that many people would think he was crazy for walking away from the money. He ended the message by saying, \u201cI just had to tell somebody that I knew would understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
This incident always reminds me that sometimes quitting is both a moral choice and an act of courage. It\u2019s also a reminder that when running a business we need to be clear about what we are willing to do\u2014and what we won\u2019t do.<\/p>\n
This may sound obvious, but I suspect that every entrepreneur has taken on projects because their cash flow was squeaky or they convinced themselves that a potential client wasn\u2019t really as big a jerk as they appeared to be.<\/p>\n
Smart entrepreneurs use such experiences as lessons that help them clarify their own vision\u2014and avoid repeating their bad choices.<\/p>\n
Of course, there are also many things that fall under the umbrella of Against My Ethics and we don\u2019t spend much time pondering whether or not we should do something illegal or immoral. We\u2019re not even tempted.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, it makes sense to think about those services or products that we won\u2019t be including. You may not advertise that you don\u2019t do windows, but having determined that\u2019s not part of your portfolio you\u2019ll know how to handle requests for such a service if it comes your way.<\/p>\n
When I was starting out, I decided that there were three things I wouldn\u2019t be doing in my business. Even though I had seen others do such things with some measure of success, they felt inappropriate to me.<\/p>\n
These three condiitons were more guidelines for me than policies and included:<\/p>\n
1. I won\u2019t duplicate what is already being done<\/em>. While I love passiing along resources that I think are useful to my audience, I am not about to pretend I\u2019m the oracle for all wisdom. If someone else has covered the territory well, I\u2019ll send people their way\u2014and be thankful I can work on other subjects and projects that are my true passions.<\/p>\n 2. I won\u2019t develop dependency relationships.<\/em> I\u2019ve watched people get wealthy in the personal growth industry by developing devoted followers who never are quite ready to break the ties to their guru and create something of their own. While this can be highly profitable for gurus, I\u2019ve always wanted to inspire folks to create, invent and deliver their own special gifts to the world. I\u2019m happy to be a midwife, but not a parent.<\/p>\n 3. I won\u2019t teach what I haven\u2019t learned.<\/em> You won\u2019t see any pictures of me standing next to a Ferrari with palm trees in the background telling you how to make a bazillion dollars in the next six months. You also won\u2019t see any seminars or writing from me about subjects I\u2019ve researched but haven\u2019t tested in the laboratory of my own life and business.<\/p>\n Over time, I\u2019ve added other guidelines about what I will and won\u2019t do. A few years ago, for instance, I adopted the mantra Work With the Willing to remind me that I am not in the business of evangelizing and making converts. My ideal customers and clients are already sold on the notion of living a joyfully jobless life and simply want to keep evolving forward on that path. That\u2019s where i come in.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve never changed my mind about any of those things even though compromising on any one of them could have added to my bottom line. More importantly to me was realizing that what I will and won\u2019t do was the only way to build the business of my dreams.<\/p>\n What about you? What won\u2019t you do?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One day I got a message from my friend Peter with a subject line that read, \u201cI just turned down $10,000…\u201d He finished the sentence in the body of the message with, \u201cand it feels great.\u201d Peter went on to describe a project he was working on that felt less and less like a good…<\/p>\n