As we ponder the decisions we make every day, it sometimes feels that a single decision doesn’t have that much of an impact on our life. An example might be to skip my run that day, eat the Jack and Bleu burger from Calhoun Street Soups-Salads-Spirits – CS3 – instead of the salad bar, or watch that extra show on Netflix after I already said “only one more.”
We all need a little bit of variety in our life. Picking one of these over the other might be what brings us a bit of joy at the moment…but when these decisions are the main way we are moving, rather than the exception, we start to move away from our goals and passions. We start living much less than we are capable of.
So when I find myself in a rut or out of line, or in the wrong direction, I try to find where I am going off the path, by doing a mental exercise I call ‘100x’. This is pretty simple – I look at my decisions and think “What is the compound effect of doing this 100 times?”
An example of this is coming back to my favorite burger from CS3, The Jack and Bleu with sweet potato fries. This greasy deliciousness is the perfect solution for me every couple weeks, but what if I ate this thing 100x a year? I would have tasty lunches, but dropping $14 for lunch is going to have an adverse impact on my lunch budget and that grease and fried food is going to probably affect me physically, not to mention clogging up my mental energy. For me that doesn’t line up with where I want to be a year from now, so it makes it a much easier decision to pass most days and go for something a bit lighter; on the budget and the gut.
This 100x exercise also works to create habits in our business. Like when we decide to take care of a customer fully, to do that extra for them and go over and above. What happens when you do that 100 times rather than ignoring them? I think there is a profound difference between the two.
When I make the decision to skip a workout, eat something that doesn’t serve a purpose, or stay up later than I should, I go through this 100x exercise and take notice what the results will be if this became my new habit. The same is true in our business. What happens if we have 100 Quarterly Meetings in the next 25 years to discuss our business on a higher level? What is the difference between that business and one that only talks about the next task to be accomplished? Do you think those organizations look different? I’m betting they do, and that is why the quarterly meetings have to become the habit for us.
Heard. Watched. Read.
- Jimmie Johnson (NASCAR driver) and his #48 team share their goals for the upcoming NASCAR season in this well done and impact-filled 1-minute video. #chasing8
- “Whenever two parties come together to transact business of any kind, one side is always asking the other to assume more or all of the risk. Your goal (as a business) is to eliminate as much, if not all, of the risk in the transaction for your client.” – Jay Abraham.
- Is what I am doing, or about to do, getting us closer to our objectives?