Perry Marshall: Do You Practice this Entrepreneurial “Discipline”?

Just a couple of weeks ago, a client came to my house for a one-on-one consultation. He had paid for a full day of my time (not cheap). He had paid for round trip airfare. Paid for a hotel. Given up a couple days from running his busy company. He had thorny business concerns that we needed to unpack, reframe, and hopefully solve.

This was serious business.

But before noon, he stopped me and said, “OK, I think we’re good. I got what I came for. I’m going to visit some people while I’m here in town.”

Um, ok…great.

After he left, I told my wife, Laura, what happened and she said, “So, what are you going to do with your afternoon off?”

I muttered, “Well, I’ve got a webinar tomorrow I could work on, and I guess I could bang out a few more pages in the book…”

She stopped me, “Perry, a client just told you that you gave him a full day’s value in just a couple of hours. Don’t go back to work. Celebrate. Take the afternoon off and do something FUN!”

She was right, of course. She’s always right about stuff like that.

Most of us entrepreneurs rush from task to task, fire to fire, crises to crises, project to project. I’m guilty too.

And when something good happens…when we finally GET what we’ve been working for…we land a big client or we pull off a great product launch or we hit a revenue goal or whatever…we just kinda mumble and move on to the next thing.

That must stop.

We need to practice the discipline of celebration. Yes, it’s a discipline. It sounds funny to put it that way, but it is. The proof is my example above and the fact that you were probably nodding your head when I told it. I had to be reminded of it. We all do, it seems. We have to be reminded to have fun.

I need to be reminded even though it’s part of my own company’s “For/Against” manifesto, which I helped write a few years ago!

“We are FOR gratitude and celebration under every circumstance.”

Why are we for celebration? Because it’s part of an abundance mentality. A worldview that says, “If I take time to celebrate and give thanks, I’m not losing time. I’m not losing money. In fact, the very act of celebrating and giving thanks will bring me…and the world…even more blessing.”

So, I did take the afternoon off, went for a walk (it was a gorgeous day), hit my favorite music store, chatted with some good friends. In a very simple, but profound way, I celebrated.

And I returned to work the next day refreshed, peaceful, thankful, and, yes, more productive.

When is the last time you celebrated? Are you FOR celebration?

Like me, you might need a gentle reminder. So, I’m giving it to you.

What happened this week that you should celebrate?

Even if it’s something small, make sure you celebrate and give thanks this weekend.