Purpose begins at home, with your employees. If they know why they are working with you, they are more likely to do well. In other words, when you stand for something beyond your products and services, you contribute to the greater good. That bold sense of purpose will motivate your employees beyond their expectations, and certainly yours. Gone are the days when you earned a paycheck for clocking in and doing your “job.” Today, employees want more than a paycheck – they want to know that they are aligned with a company that believes in something that they, too can believe in. A sense of purpose lives in our DNA, it’s part of our human nature, and business is becoming more human.

That’s why more and more businesses operate with a “purpose-motive,” as well as a “profit-motive.” Traditional thinking creates value solely within the confines of profit. That may still work for some of your shareholders, but it will not work for your employees, or your customers. Twenty-first century businesses are redefining success, and the best performing companies stand for something greater than their product.

“I believe wholeheartedly that a new form of capitalism is emerging. More stakeholders (customers, employees, shareholders, and the larger community) want their businesses to…have a purpose bigger than their product.” – Mats Lederhausen, Investor and former McDonalds executive.

Daniel H. Pink writes in Drive, “A healthy society – and healthy business organizations – begins with purpose and considers profit a way to move toward that end or a happy by-product of its attainment.” He continues, “we’re not designed to be passive and compliant. We’re designed to be active and engaged. Doing something that matters, doing it well, and doing it in the service of a cause larger than ourselves,” is what twenty first century employees and businesses strive to attain.

These purpose-driven tenants are also – increasingly – just as important to your customers. In fact, more and more consumers view companies in a holistic way, sizing them up and deciding if the company’s values align with their own. This presents enormous opportunity. You’re no longer just selling a product. You are selling a product in the name of something greater than your company – you are making a difference in the world. That purpose motive becomes part of the glue that creates unbreakable bonds with your customers.

Imagine a world full of people who strive for and reach their higher purposes. I think a lot of our current problems would vanish.  Difficulties arise, often times, because people experience a real lack of purpose. I’m not suggesting these individuals don’t dream or wonder what might be.  It’s just that some folks feel beaten down, defeated, and as a result, they lose their dream steam.  You can be assured that the burning embers of their dreams are still alive. They’re just waiting for a bit of oxygen to set their ideas on fire

You can be that oxygen.  You can be the impetus, the nudge, the breath of hope for another.

I worked in television for over twenty years.  The mantra for promoting programming and news was always the same: what’s in it for me?  Not me.  You!  I cannot sell you anything if you don’t see yourself as benefiting somehow by completing the transaction.

So what if we start looking at all of the transactions in our lives and asked, “what’s in it for me?”  Not you. Me!

What are you doing today to help someone else unleash their potential tomorrow?

Anyone taking a leap of faith, daring to make the world a better place, or simply aiming for more than the status quo feels complete and utter overwhelm from time-to-time. We just have to remember to be gentle with ourselves – understand that what we’re going through is completely natural, take a deep breath and move forward, one step at a time.

It strikes me that these moments are exactly why most entrepreneurs give up and don’t make it to the finish line. Success requires guts, courage and determination. No kidding, right? But let’s break it down a bit further: everyone sees the end product – the musician on stage in front of thousands of people, the successful launch of a hot new product, the best-selling author being interviewed in the New York Times – and we all want to be just like them. Well, the only difference between those folks and the ones who don’t make it is trust. Successful entrepreneurs trust that their vision is going to make a difference in the world. That trust drives them to do the grunt work until 2AM in the morning, find mentors, do their research, lie awake and night and lose faith (more times than they can count) — and time and again something miraculous happens. They take a deep breath, look to the heavens and climb the next mountain.

Why?

The ones who succeed remember why they are doing what they are doing in the first place. They understand that their voice and vision are gifts. You see, it’s not about us – you and me trying to do something great. It’s about everyone else who will be impacted when we release our gifts into the world. And we can only do that when we trust ourselves, and our mission. When we believe, even if those around us do not.

So do you trust yourself? Are you doing everything you can to live up to your true potential? If not, you’re not just doing yourself a huge disservice, you’re letting the rest of the world down. Imagine what the planet would look like if we all took a leap of faith and lived into our true potentials! Yeah – it’s a worthy goal, don’t you think?

Hoffman and Casnocha identify your individual career assets – and they categorize them as soft and hard assets – soft being the intangible contributors to career success, like knowledge, connections, skills – essentially your personal brand.  The hard assets look something like this: money in your wallet, your desk, laptop, smartphone – the tangibles.

Well, I couldn’t help myself. I had to stop and think about how individuals interact with their soft assets – and how, whether you’re aiming for a career change, or building a new company – your soft assets matter more than the hard ones.  At least initially, and I’ll tell you why.

The information you gather over your lifetime, the knowledge you gain as a result of constant study and research – your natural curiosity, led by passion, drive, and purpose – is essential to starting a company, and it’s a vital component of career migration.  In the information age, you now have an obligation – I like to call it an opportunity –to not only consume information, but to amass a bevy of skills, become a font of knowledge, and share what you know with the world.  Social media changed everything – the connected world that we live in demands participation.  Sure, you can sit parts of your life out, that’s your prerogative.  But if you want to keep moving forward, if you want to achieve something – whether that something is finding a new job, or starting a new company, you have to share your personal brand. You have to let people know who you are, what you stand for, what your goals are.  Why? Because you need their help, and if you don’t share, no one will know who you are and what you’re up to.

So are you hoarding?  Or are you sharing?

The truth is, I’m a bit of a hoarder.  Someone once told me that I have a great deal of power, but I hide it.  I tend to diminish my accomplishments, thinking it’s better to error on the side of humble rather than hubris.  But let’s be honest – there’s a healthy middle ground.  I’m out to find that space, and I hope you are, too.

So let’s start by agreeing that our competitive edge begins with a recognition of who we are today and who we’re becoming with each passing day.  And let’s not hide who we are. Interact with blogs, write your own blog, apply for that job (and really be honest about all that you offer), write a book, build a company, change the world.  Only share yourself in the process, because in so doing, you inspire others to do the same and all of that wonderful sharing helps to make the world a better place.  As Steve Jobs said, “Stay hungry. Stay foolish.”  I would add, “Stay connected.”

The imprint you make on your business now, during these early days is what will guide you as you scale and grow. Developing a healthy, functional, disciplined, approach to your business now is key to your future performance – and vital to your brand identity. Remember, consumers today demand transparency – they want to believe in you and your company, as much as they want to enjoy your products and services. Don’t disappoint them.

Here are three action items to keep you on track:

1. Be reliable. However you decide to communicate with your audience, don’t deviate. If you blog once a week, don’t hedge your bets and think that no one will notice. You will notice, and that easy slip this week could lead to a slippery slope of hesitations and procrastinations in other areas of your business next week. Besides, frequency of communications is what helps you build your audience.
2. Show up. It’s easy to think that you’re not being noticed in the sea of social media. Don’t believe it! Show up and play with the big guns. Continue developing messages that you can deploy via Twitter, Facebook, Pintrest, et al, to keep people coming back to your site. And keep sharing relevant content from other bloggers and publishers – become an information resource. That is part of your role as a content producer.
3. Stay inspired. Daily. Hourly. Do your homework. If visitors don’t stay on your website or click through to various content, don’t get discouraged. Roll up your sleeves and iterate. Ask trusted associates and friends for feedback. And keep trolling the web for ideas. Watch what your peers are doing. Allow yourself to constantly learn and grow. Everyone started with baby steps. Just keep moving!

The “it” is Inspiration (with a capital I). Inspiration is the backbone of every purposeful business and of every authentic, achieving human being. Inspiration builds relationships, projects, companies, coalitions, revolutions, and nations. Inspiration radiates from a higher ground – its motive is progress, unity, collaboration, love. You can never get enough Inspiration!

Every one of us wants to be inspired, motivated and encouraged to go beyond where we are today, to reach for a higher ideal of ourselves, to live into possibility. Every one of us is hungry – no – we’re ravenous for anything that can help us unleash our true potentials. Why? Because potential is in our DNA. We’re born to create. We’re born to be amazing. And it’s about damn time we lived into all of that possibility.

You already know this. That’s why you’re here. So let’s cut to the chase. Why aren’t you living the life you want? Why haven’t you started working on that business idea? Oh, you have? Okay, so now you don’t believe your idea will fly, is that it?

Look, I know how this works. Some days you feel like recoiling and crawling into a hole because living into your potential can be very scary and downright difficult. You’re constantly being challenged – from the evil twin voice in your head that is nothing more than a phantom fear monger, to the real world issues that keep you up at night. All to be expected, and you have to push through the tentative times in order to reach the days when you’re on cloud nine – when you physically feel your potential pulsating through your body, when you know unequivocally that your idea is brilliant, (or will be) and that you are capable of achieving great things.

You have to keep proving to yourself that you can do what you want to do. You have to be relentless, because inertia, real world challenges, and the fear phantom are always lurking. How about this: while you’re driving home from work from that hum-drum job that you’re going to leave once your business is up and running, start fantasizing about that interview you’re going to have at that big entrepreneur’s conference in NYC. That’s right, conduct the interview right there in your car, and seriously –record yourself! And when those scurrilous moments of doubt come knockin’ at your door, listen to that interview, refine it, and get yourself back on track!

Keep refining your interview as your project or business idea unfolds. Build a narrative around your progress. Let the interviewer part of yourself ask really tough questions – no holds barred. Ask everything. And then answer honestly. This is your sandbox and you can create anything you want. Let your words create your reality.  Practicing your interview is one way to find the answers to your questions. And if you have a team in place, conduct interviews with all team members – everyone asks and everyone answers; equal opportunity to contribute and learn.

Wow. You are going to learn so much about yourself – and about your idea. You won’t believe some of the things you tell yourself. Seriously. Your genius will reveal itself throughout the process. And you will discover the deeper root that Pam Slim, author of Escape From Cubicle Nation, talks about in her blog.

Alternative idea: Write a speech instead – for that entrepreneurial conference that you will be attending after you launch your project. Write the narrative of your success: why you started the company, how it will change the world, who is using your products and services – how it all came to be, what inspired you, what held you back, and where you’re heading next. Keep updating your speech as you build your business. This is your story in action. There is so much to discover and unleash!

Time to let go of the story.

We all create stories about ourselves. Some were taught to us and we decided to believe them. Others we created, and we decided to believe those too! But in the end, all you have are stories that are only true if you believe them. Guess that that means? You can create new stories!

Your story may go something like this: “I have a great idea for a business, but my family needs me and my income. I’m exhausted most days. I’ve scribbled down a few thoughts in a notebook, but I don’t even know where that notebook is anymore. Still, sometimes, when I’m laying awake at night – I think about what might be possible if I could just make my idea a reality.”

Time to change your story. How about this: “I have a family who needs me and I make a decent income, so I really can’t leave my job right now. Sometimes I feel exhausted, but remarkably, I feel really alive when I think about my business idea. So now I get up a half-hour early each morning and work on the details of my business plan. And at night, when the kids are in bed, I go online for 45 minutes and do research. This isn’t a crash course, I’m in it for the long haul, and just knowing that I am taking small steps has made me feel like my business idea is possible.”

Okay, your turn. Retell your story to fit what you actually want to happen in your life. Get as detailed as you want. This is the new story that you are going to live into. Nothing can stop you now.

Except a creepy thing called fear. That’s okay. We’re going to tame that wild beast.

Time to let go of the fear.

What exactly is at the root of your fear?

• That you’ll fail? Who cares! You can always work on another idea.
• That you don’t have enough money? Well, there are a plethora of crowdfunding websites designed to help you get some early funding. Check out the Startup Resources page.
• That you’re not smart, good, young, hardworking, (fill-in-the-blank) enough?  Really? You’re reading this post. That’s a good start! Do you know how many people are starting businesses today without being 100% ready? If you wait until you think you know enough to start a business, the market will leave you behind. Sure, you have to be realistic. But inherent in starting anything new is risk. There are tangible ways to mitigate risk, and there are a vast number of resources available to guide and inspire you. Learning how other people overcame their fears will do wonders for yours. Remember, you are not alone.

Okay, now nothing can get in your way! Except, perhaps, an annoying lack of focus.

Time to commit like a hawk.

At this point the ideas are going to start swirling around in your head like a Starling Murmuration. Find that notebook, because you’re going to need to write down everything. Keep it in your car, at work, beside your bed, in the bathroom… wherever good ideas strike! Then get another notebook and start putting some structure around your ideas. What feels authentic? What exactly is your vision? Your mission? How will the world be better with your business idea? You are creating a living, breathing entity. It’s going to have a mind of its own. That’s okay.

Because you’re ready to commit like a hawk.

When a hawk sets its sights on prey, regardless of proximity, the hawk zeroes in and pursues that prey with laser-like focus. This action is called “committing.” The hawk sees nothing else. It swoops and remains committed until the bitter end.

Your business idea is your prey. And if you’re going to see your idea through to the bitter end, you have to commit. You’ll schedule time, on a consistent basis, to work on your project. You’ll make lists to help keep your project organized. You’ll do research – lots of research. And you’ll find your tribe… other people who will support you in realizing your dream. Your tribe might be like-minded friends. Or groups for entrepreneurs in your area. If you can’t find a group, start one! And don’t underestimate the importance of your online tribe. Find and follow folks who speak your language – who are aiming just as high, and who, like you, have committed to unleashing their full potential!

If you are just starting out, here are a few things to consider:

• do you have a name for your business?
• have you confirmed that the name is available in your state and online?
• do you have a logo?
• what is your unique selling proposition – in other words, what will make your business stand out from all the rest?
• who are your target audiences?
• what customer/client needs are your addressing with your business?
• what is your marketing and communications budget?

If you have an established business, what are your needs and concerns?

• new business is declining
• no one knows your business exists
• brand feels stale
• business is growing and a new marketing strategy is required
• it’s time put some new functionality on your website

Together, we will help you develop cost-effective solutions to reach your goals and grow your business.