Do we know our audience? Or do we jump from one thing to another looking for the next big thing or the next deal because we are all in FOMO, fear of missing out. FOMO can lead to flirting with one thing and then another, never finishing any of them. Never getting what you want.
Don’t run after everything, decide on your market, and what you are good at, and stick to it. Talk to those people and not any other people. Or, to quote an objective set by one of our clients, “I will stop marketing to people I complain about”. Discover your true North and stick to it.
Nuclear loneliness leads to lack of purpose
For 99% of the time homo sapiens has been on this planet, we have existed inside a community. No longer. Now there is nuclear loneliness, that feeling of thinking it is all down to you, no one to help, listen to you, empathise with you. The modern world gives us an ability to withdraw from it and hide behind our doors and computers. Added to that is the solitary existence of running your own business. Your ability to get fulfilment from what you do is dependent on others getting what they want first – your customers, people, suppliers. We don’t function well in this state.
It doesn’t have to be like this. Better to find a sense of belonging, to join and contribute to communities. We can find a sense of purpose, belonging, and being valued by others.
How can you find your purpose?
We recognise this disconnect. We are interested in the whole person, not just our business client, so how you find fulfiliment is important to us, including your leisure time. We look to help you find a life-work balance, as we recognise that work is a subset of life. It’s not the other way round. This isn’t an advert – it’s our purpose.
Your true North
Finding our true North in business helps us decide what is important to us.
Ways of finding your true North are in Sam Coniff ‘s book Be More Pirate . It investigates how pirates intentionally got a bad press. There’s an argument that the first brand wasn’t Coca Cola but the pirate flag – feared but universally recognised. As a piece of marketing it’s brilliant.
Pirates had clear lines of democratic control, sharing of the loot, a system of healthcare, all enshrined in the Pirate Code, which contrary to the movie Pirates of the Carribbean weren’t guidelines. There were elements of community in pirate life as well. The community of the ship, enshrined in the Code, and also the tribe of pirates collectively.
Each Code was unique to each ship and expressed what the pirates agreed was fair. As such, it showed their purpose and values. It described their true North.
What is important to you?
We think it’s about objectives. Businesses and academia tend to focus exclusively on business objectives. But it’s really about what is important to you personally- your personal objectives.
Business objectives are only a subset of personal objectives.
Personal objectives come first. It’s the same principle as life-work balance, instead of work-life balance. Surely we want more life, not more work? And for certain no one ever went to work to fulil a business objective. They went to fulfil a personal one, which the business facilitated. Some personal goals are achieved through work, not by work.
We’ve had some interesting objectives set by clients. One was to spend more time with his father. He was aware that time was passing. Another couple wanted the opportunity to build family bonds over holidays, (a small window of opportunity as the children grow up) and whose sales and profits have quadrupled in the last 5 years. Personal first – then make the business fit to you.
Do you want to find your true North? What speaks to you? Why is it important? You need to find ways to hold on to that and your place in your world. That way you could be a bit more Pirate.