Copy of josh-v4noxqd75__raw-video-cfr_discontentment-vs-gratitude_2023-oct-06-0945pm_retail_initiative
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[00:00:00] Welcome back to the Retail Initiative. This is going to be a short one, but it's an important one. There's a word I've been thinking about a lot and I'm curious like what comes to mind for you when I say the word discontent. Like you're discontent with something like what what does that make you feel?
[00:00:18] What does that make you think in the culture that I come from like I grew up in church And I was taught to focus on being content in all situations You need to be content [00:00:30] and as I got into business and as I started to really grow up I realized that that there's a difference between contentment and gratitude There's a difference between saying, I don't like how things are, and I would like them to be better, and I am grateful for everything that I have.
[00:00:51] And a lot of times when we don't assign those correctly, what ends up happening is we think that because we aspire for things to be better, that [00:01:00] we lack in gratitude. And the reality is that they can coexist, but my question for you right now is, where are you discontent in your business? Tony Robbins is one of my favorite speakers, and he talks a lot about that, like, transformation happens when you've had enough.
[00:01:20] Like, I just, I can't continue going on like this. Something needs to change. And that's the key part of growth is change [00:01:30] for me. Several years ago, our, my business used to look really different. Like right now we are an agency that has a core service where we help brick and mortar retailers gain traction online by designing and developing a site that brings their in store experience online, and then puts all the pieces in place for it to be like, actually have a plan to grow.
[00:01:51] And then we just launched an ads agency, which I can't wait to share more with you about. But before we were doing that, my background actually is in the point of sale [00:02:00] space, which as you might guess, it's the worst, but I did it for a long time and I was really good at it. Like I was honestly probably the best in the country at what I did in the way that I did it.
[00:02:11] I didn't, as always, I can never just do it like everybody else does. I had to, when people zig, I tend to zag. And so instead of selling POS systems, I was like, Hey, I'm gonna teach you how to operate your business. And we're going to use this tool as the means to an end. Anyway, that's not why you're here, but I had this [00:02:30] moment.
[00:02:30] So part of part of point of sale is involved support like receipt printers break and credit card processing machines suck and break all the time. And that included weekends. And there was this weekend where I just lost a team member. And so I was taking over aspects of our support and this team member was out.
[00:02:49] We get a ticket for like a receipt printer that's broken or something like that. And I'm at my son's soccer game. At the time, he's three years old. And there's this moment in the soccer game where [00:03:00] all the kids would take turns like kicking a goal. And then the crowd around, or a crowd, like kids be real, this was all first kids.
[00:03:09] And so it was like grandparents, aunts, uncles, all of that stuff for this quote unquote game, which is really more of a practice. But I, while my son is going and the, the, everyone's chanting, Ryan, Ryan, Ryan, I am 50 yards away on a conversation with someone that doesn't even want to be talking to me, walking them from [00:03:30] memory through how to fix this problem with their system.
[00:03:34] And I hung up that call missing this moment for my son, which, you know what? He doesn't even remember, but I knew that that could not continue. My discontentment was at an all time high. And I said like, this is not what I want my life to look like things need to change. And we completely, like I burned that business down and we luckily, like we already were doing e commerce sites and, and [00:04:00] strategy and all of that.
[00:04:00] And I was like, I'm going all in here. That's what I already enjoy. It's what I'm speaking about. It's what I'm on podcast about what I'm on stage is about. So we're going to go all in on that. And even though it was not our primary revenue at the time, I knew that things needed to change. And I took massive action for it to change.
[00:04:18] And so my question for you and what I want to have you begin to think through is Does your life and your business look like you want it to look, [00:04:30] or have you found yourself, you created a beast that is running your life rather than a business that is fueling your life. Have you created a beast that is running your life instead of a business that's fueling it?
[00:04:45] If you're, if you have a beast, the question is, what are we going to do to get away from having a beast that's running it? Because this is where things have to change. And a lot of the times. And I'm guilty of this myself. I have something that I [00:05:00] want, but I don't change my action to get there. I want my health to look different, my body to look different.
[00:05:06] Yet my portions don't change. The amount I'm drinking doesn't change. The amount I'm going to the gym doesn't change, which means that I'm not fed up enough to actually change my habits. So in our business, if we have this beast, well, that probably means that we need team. We need systems. And that might mean we need to make investments.
[00:05:28] Your online sales aren't where they want it to [00:05:30] be. Okay, well, what are we going to change? Well, I don't know. You know, I'm doing everything that I can. I'm posting on social and you know, I'm updating my site. Well, okay. But is it working? Because if it hasn't worked before, there isn't going to be this magical moment where it just takes off.
[00:05:46] Now, if it's gained traction and it's growing. Okay, great. Like there's a degree of like, you just got to stay in the game and stay consistent, but if it has yet to click and it's yet to begin to grow and gain traction, like, you know, that it [00:06:00] should, something has to change and that's where having the right strategy.
[00:06:05] It probably isn't just a tactic. It's probably not just a new thing you start doing is a way that you approach it. starting to think about your site as something that serves your customer and isn't just about selling products. It's about solving your customer's problem. And that my last episode was all about that.
[00:06:23] Like we've got to stop selling products and instead start being obsessed with having a brand that serves our customer. And we [00:06:30] know that it is more than the products that we sell, but I want to come back to that idea of discontentment. And so here we have a choice. We can say, I don't like where things are and Are we willing to change?
[00:06:43] The answer may be no. Are we willing to do the things to get out of where we are? If the answer is no, then great. Then we need to figure out how to build contentment around that thing. We have to build contentment around the thing that we are currently discontent. But then there is the, yeah, no, I [00:07:00] am willing to do that.
[00:07:02] So if we're discontent, and if that's you, the first thing that you need to do, the step to getting out of discontentment is not to be less discontent. It is to fix what you're discontent about. So thing number one is you need to define your vision. Where do you want to be? Because if we just think about where we don't want to be, to get a little woo woo on you, we think about the thing that we don't want.
[00:07:29] And [00:07:30] the mind attracts. what we focus on. And so even if we're focusing on the fact that we don't want it, we're going to attract the thing that we're thinking about, which is exactly what we don't want. So instead, if we can define a clear vision, What does it look like? What does it taste like? What does it feel like?
[00:07:47] What is it like the feeling you wake up on Tuesday morning and things are different? What does it feel like? And when we can start to define that, then we can start to reverse engineer the things that need to be in [00:08:00] place to do that. And so if you have consistent, predictable revenue, like, okay, well, there's a marketing strategy that's in place.
[00:08:06] It's not just bouncing from tactic to tactic. There's a team that's in place because you aren't scrambling and constantly putting out fires, which means that you have systems in place. These are things that once we've defined where we want to go, we can begin to reverse engineer it. Because if we only focus on where we don't want to be, we're going to stay right where we don't want to be.
[00:08:29] This [00:08:30] has been the, the thing that... I have been thinking about for the last, honestly, like two years, but, but really like this week, this has been at the front of my mind is this word discontent. So my question for you, leaving this episode is what are you discontent with right now? What needs to change? And are you truly ready to do the things you need to do to change, to get out of that piece?
[00:08:58] out of whatever [00:09:00] thing it is that you don't want to be in anymore. And if that's the case, define where you want to be and then start to reverse engineer. Meaning, okay, if, if this is true, then I know that this needs to exist and this needs to exist and this needs to exist. And we can start to back into a plan.
[00:09:18] Okay, well, I know that if I need a team, the first thing I need to do is probably identify what's the first team member that could take on the thing that I'm the worst at, or I hate doing. [00:09:30] It doesn't mean that it's going to happen overnight, but you can start that process today. So I hope this episode was encouraging for you.
[00:09:38] And to leave on a different, different note, on the flip side of discontentment. is contentment. But contentment means you're okay with where things are. And I do think that this needs to be met with gratitude. Gratitude coexists with discontentment. You can be grateful for what you have, grateful for everything in your [00:10:00] life and say, and this has to change.
[00:10:04] Like to, I'm going to go non PC a little bit here. Like you can be discontent about your health and where that sits and. One thing and be grateful for your body and be grateful for who you are and how you look, those can coexist. They don't have to contradict each other. And so that's my encouragement. Is one where you discontent and where can we be grateful?[00:10:30]
[00:10:30] Because we all have things to be grateful for. Even if you run the worst business, it is likely that you exist in someone else's dream right now. Someone else's is dreaming of being where you are. So I hope that's an encouragement for you. I'm grateful that you're listening to this episode. And I cannot wait to see you next week.
[00:10:48] I just love being here. Uh, if you don't follow me on Instagram, follow me at retail, Josh, shoot me a DM. If this episode was encouraging to you, just let me know. I always love hearing from you. So retail Josh, and I will talk to you next week.[00:11:00]
