5 Things That Are Never Finished

Prospecting: No matter how good your sales, no matter how solid your business, you can never stop prospecting. You can and will lose clients, much of the time through no fault of your own. But you’ll only be able to effectively grow if you are always prospecting.  Prospecting is one of those things that never end; it’s a continuous process that never truly finishes.

Relationships: Absence does not make the heart grow fonder. It makes the heart go wander. Relationships are an investment of time and energy–and sometimes money. You can never stop making investments in the relationships that matter (in your business and your life).  Like many things that never end, maintaining relationships is an ongoing effort that never really finishes.

Creating Value: If you are going to grow your client relationships and your business, you are going to need to continually create greater value. It isn’t always easy to come up with the next thing. It isn’t easy to find new ways to contribute to your client’s success in new ways. But the duty to create more and greater levels of value never ends. You can’t stop.

Learning: In this Disruptive Age, the amount of knowledge we possess is growing exponentially faster. This means what you know and understand now isn’t enough. You and I are woefully behind and losing ground. Knowledge isn’t power. It’s only potential power until you act on that knowledge. Knowledge isn’t wisdom either. You need to decided what’s important, what things mean, and what needs done now. You can never stop learning, it’s a process that never finishes.

Growth: Good enough isn’t good enough. Better isn’t good enough either. You need to continue to improve yourself personally and professionally like your very success depends upon it (it does).

There is a difference between disciplines and goals. Goals are important. But disciplines are even more important. Your disciplines undergird everything that you are, everything that you do, and everything that you will become. A goal can be completed. Disciplines are forever. Some things are not meant to be finished.