Are You Serious, Clark?

If you’ve read many of these editorials you’ve probably heard me talk about my two children. For them, Christmas is a magical time filled with lights, candy and promises that if they’re good a fat man will soon invade our house bringing them all the useless crap they’ve ever wanted. My daughter has been asking for three months solid if it’s Christmas yet. Oh, to be a kid again.

There’s a very famous scene in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation where Chevy Chase’s character, Clark Griswold, is trying to excite the kids on Christmas Eve. He tells them he’d heard an airline pilot spotted Santa’s sleigh coming in from New York. The kid’s eyes immediately light up, then the camera switches across the table to show a confused Cousin Eddie who responds with, “Are you serious, Clark?”

The joke is simple. To think a grown man could go that far in life being completely disillusioned without someone bringing his fantasy land to a screeching halt is ridiculous. Unfortunately, Christmas time for adults is less about being good and hoping for surprises, and more about maxed out credit cards, tight schedules and overwhelming responsibilities. Fa-la-la.

The “magical” part stops as soon as you find out it was your parents putting presents under the tree and eating your cookies the whole time. Suddenly life hits you like a ton of bricks. There’s nothing wrong with letting children have fun as long as you can. My daughter can’t read yet, so I’m not worried about spilling the Santa beans, and hopefully there aren’t any Cousin Eddie’s out there in contractor land whose world I just crumbled.

But when you see behind the curtain you realize that good things don’t happen by magic… someone out there is working for them. Someone probably sacrificed and did without so that you could have what you wanted. It wasn’t free, it didn’t get there by sleigh and guess what? It’s not guaranteed to happen again next year either. If tragedy struck my family in 2020 and we couldn’t afford presents, I’m not sure how we’d explain Santa’s absence to the kiddos, but it wouldn’t change the fact that magic wouldn’t change our circumstances.    

It’s a powerful lesson to learn, and sadly one that even many adults haven’t fully grasped. Sure, every one-in-a-zillion wins the lottery and I could happen to dig up a gold brick in my backyard this afternoon too, but that’s not what I’m banking my retirement on. As a general rule, good things in life don’t come easy and the only thing truly free is the grace of God. EVERYTHING ELSE that’s worthwhile has a string attached and some form of sacrifice that goes along with it.

We’re only a few hours after Christmas, my living room looks like a bomb went off, and everything is joyful and bright. I promise I’m not some Scrooge simply trying to suck the joy out of your stockings, so why am I trying to harsh everyone’s holiday buzz with a strong dose of reality right now?

Because I truly want you to succeed, that’s why.

We’re on the cusp of a New Year and, being a contractor marketing coach by trade, I’ve asked many contractors over the last few weeks if they had a plan for 2020. Want to know the most common response? It was usually some version of, “Nah, I don’t really know what I’m going to do next year. It’ll work out like it usually does.” They may not come out and admit it like that, but if you read between the lines what they’re saying is, “I’m not really sure how the magic is happening, but I don’t care and I’m not going to question it. Just as long as the gifts keep showing up under the tree. If they aren’t there, we’ll figure it out then.”

I won’t mince words here, that outlook on life is terrifying. There’s a better way to run your business than just flying by the seat of your pants and happily taking what falls into your lap, because you never know when the low hanging fruit might just dry up. And it’s not just about the fear of losing what you have either. This thought should really put a little sparkle in your eyes; if you’re chugging along semi-successfully without a plan or marketing strategy, just think about what 2020 could hold for you if you tried even a little bit harder? Even a little bit… There’s help available.

I’ll only be able to speak with a few of you before the first of the year, and maybe I’ve inspired a few more of you to reach out, but a simple 20-minute conversation assessing where you are, what’s working, what’s not and where you hope to be in December 2020 could be the start of huge things for your business.  

Getting a plan makes you feel like you’ve got more of a handle on things, and quite honestly, will help you sleep better at night. If you take no action, but just sit back and expect good things to continue to happen, please don’t be as shocked as Cousin Eddie when you figure out the world simply doesn’t work that way. Those who are proactive, willing to put the work in and implement the systems necessary to succeed are the ones who make their own “magic.”

Motivation to change for the better: It truly is the gift that keeps on giving.

If you’d like some help developing a plan for new success in 2020, reach out to me at (800) 489-9099 or email [email protected] to schedule a personal appointment. I’d love to help make 2020 your best, and most profitable year yet.