Last week was a fantastic learning experience for me. I’ve been working with the CEO of a company who is working on technology that is incredibly exciting. In fact, he is doing really great things for the planet.
Over dinner, when I gave him Kudos for the work and breakthroughs he has achieved, he didn’t look at me with the same excitement that I was feeling. I asked him why? What he said surprised me.
He said that everyone has been on him to stop the burn — a term for continuing to invest money into a business — so everything he was focused on was short term. He said that he was consumed by the question… “How do I get revenues today?” He said he felt he had to totally dismiss the incredible opportunity to change the world that was right in front of him.
There is nothing exciting about focusing on money. Well, maybe if it’s big piles of money, right in front of you! But not when you’re working on a “change the world” business. If you take the energy and excitement out of it, you are limiting the potential of the business.
So when you’re looking at chopping wood, looking at doing something every day towards your goal, give it the proper energy and excitement. That energy is critical in making sure you get to your goal and that you are living life with that vibrance that is inherent in you.
Oh yes, back to the CEO… Well, we had the very talk I mentioned above, and now he is on fire! And guess what? He is going to contribute to the world like we have never seen. I watched him blossom right in front of me as I was telling him how extraordinary he was and how lucky he was to have this opportunity to change the world.
I could see that the only thing in his future is going to be excitement and energy. In fact, he sent me an email the next day, saying that he could hardly sleep — and I just smiled with joy, and put that energy into my next “change the world” company and CEO.
