The Million Dollar Lab

This is my first blog in a little while. To be honest I hadn't thought much about it and it wasn't until Sunday when Tania and I ran into a friend in town who asked the question as to why I hadn't written anything in a while that I thought about it again.
I guess the answer is that I haven't really had any inspirations or thoughts that I thought were worthy of me sharing. I think life is divided into moments of revelation punctuated by periods of transition and transition is where I'm personally at.
The only thing about transition is that it's not much fun to write about. Transition doesn't have the excitement of having achieved a goal or the enthusiasm of setting out on a new adventure. Transition is step by step, day by day, and sometimes all it requires of us is that we wake up in the morning and do what we know we have to do. At the moment I have the dream and I know where I'm going and that's what this blog is about, but getting there is a process and I intend to complete that process regardless of how long it takes or how exciting it does or doesn't feel.
With that in mind I thought I would outline a few things that have had a significant impact on me in the last month or so.



The E-Myth Revisited

Over the last month I have been re-reading Micheal Gerbers book, "E-Myth Mastery". If you haven't read it and you're interested in business, sales, or just working better I suggest you get a copy.
Michael Gerber is a best selling author, sought after speaker, and all round small business guru.
The E-Myth is primarily about why most small businesses in the world don't work but it also provides a blow by blow method for fixing this problem. The thing I love about E-Myth books and training material is that they not only motivate you to get out there and do business, but they also tell you exactly how to do it well. With anything in life there is often only a small difference between those who do an average job and those who do an exceptional one.  This book is all about how to take a business and do the little things that make it world class.

The Fuji Xerox Sales Conference

I work at Fuji Xerox on the sales team looking after the Northland patch. Once a year, reps from all around New Zealand get together at our national sales conference for a day of speakers and training, followed by the annual awards dinner. For me this is always a fantastic opportunity to rub shoulders with some of the most talented and hard working people in our company.  There is nothing like talking to successful people to get your energy levels up and provide that extra little bit of inspiration.
What really inspired me this year was the number of people that achieved honours club; people who exceeded what the company asked of them and received the rewards of that success. In a year where there seemed to be so much focus on the negative, our people rose to the challenge and succeeded. From the people who consistently win the award every year to the ones who decided that this was their year and made it for the first time, it was inspiring to see the best of the best recognized on stage for the past years achievements.

Helping Tania with Her Business
http://www.uniquecakeseperators.com/
My awesome wife has started a business. At the beginning of the year we sat down as a newly married couple and worked out what we wanted to achieve over the next twelve months. One of the goals we set involved starting our own small businesses.
Of all the amazing things about my wife one thing I really admire is the way she takes action. Within weeks of setting this goal she had produced a prototype of her product, built a website, and started selling them on Trademe.
Taking advice from the "4 Hour Work Week", she test sold her first unit before producing it to make sure there was a market. We then spent several weeks in a panic to produce the finished article. It was a little stressful but also a lot of fun. For myself it was fun to work with her on building and shipping a product, finding easier ways to make things, better suppliers, and the price for materials.
Her product is still selling well and we are still coming up with new ways to make them better. It's fantastic being married to someone with the drive and ambition to start their own business and it's great to be able to help out a little.

Conclusion

It's great to look back and know that sometimes even when it doesn't feel like much is happening, things are still coming together in the background. Thanks for reading along as I've taken a look at the things that have mattered over the last month.

P.S.

Have a look around http://zenhabits.net/. I've really enjoyed the tips on living life a bit simpler and enjoying the little things.