This week was week of the same conversation. Clients — businesses and individuals — were stuck in the noise. They had lost or never found their signal. They didn’t know who they were trying to be. I kept hearing about folks being everything for everyone, doing everything that everyone could need.
When I’d say, “So what, who, does that make you?”
The answer came back in a passel of words — mushy and undefined — unfocused and noisy. The answer was really. “We’ll be whatever, whomever they want us to be.”
They were floating without direction, changing ideas with every shiny new thing. Wandering aimlessly. What they couldn’t see is that no one else has the information, inclination, or time to do the work for them. To the rest of us they are so much noise with out signal.
We all have too much noise. Road traffic, little hassles, things that break and don’t work as they should. What we look for in the people and businesses that attract us is a clear signal of who they are and what they do. That let’s us know that we can count on them to be what they say they will be.
All winter the tiny crocus only does one thing — gather nourishment so that every spring it can show us outstanding flowers. A crocus knows what it does and it does it beautifully — without saying a thing. That strong purpose — that signal — makes the noise around crocus fade into irrelevancy. People who love crocuses know them, seek them out, and bring them home to their gardens and their fields.
Have a strong signal and rise above the noise.
What’s the one thing that you want to be known for? What’s signal sets you above the noise?
–ME “Liz” Strauss
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Hi Liz
“If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will do” – one of my favourite quotes of all times.
To me it means following our business own ‘yellow brick’ road and making sure it’s sign-posted correctly so nobody gets lost. There are some T-junctions on it too of course: still in need of our products/services, turn left – know all you want to know for now – feel free to turn right and come back any time you like.
Karin H. (Keep It Simple Sweetheart, specially in business)
Hi Karin!
Gotta find our path, yeah. That’s what I say too. But some folks seem to be waiting for us to tell them which one. They can’d decide and so they end up getting nowhere.
It’s sad to watch. I was one once. I know how it feels.
So we’re the fortunate ones? Then again, I had to be shown the yellow brick road too – only I asked for it. Could that be the difference between the wanderers/wonderers and the ‘walkers’?
Perhaps all we need to suggest is they too ask for directions. But then again they first need to know for themselves where they want to go to.
Karin H.
Yep, I think we are the fortunate. Now I’m wondering how it will be even better than this?
As a recovering people-pleaser I think it’s easy to get lost in the noise. When we don’t know our own signal we just make lots of noise. So helpful to sit with this question-“What’s the one thing that you want to be known for? What’s signal sets you above the noise?”
Hi Tim!
It’s a strange species we are that learns how to please other people more easily than we learn to please ourselve. Don’t you think?
I’m finding my path and feeling stronger the longer I stay on it. The noise around me just falls away.
Let me know how I might help. 🙂