Core Values are Where Success Begins

Without Them You Just Wander The past several weeks we’ve been digging down in the dirt and discussing who you are. Who you are is the ground that your business is built on. That ground is what supports the foundation of your business. The foundation is your core values and principles. Last week I shared the list of my core values with you. They are a collection of things that I’m naturally good at and some things…not as much. I’m constantly working on the things on this list to get better at them. Here’s a brief definition of what these core values mean to me. Honor God in all that I do Because I believe that everything that I have or do, belongs to and comes from God, it is only right that I show my appreciation by giving Him the credit for everything. This is the one core value that all the others are supported by. Make all I can, Save all I can, Give all I can Often churches and religions preach that making money is wrong. I have struggled with this for years. Not making a profit is a sure way to lose a business. I think this quote from John Wesley is good advice and fits well with God’s word, “Money is not evil. What we do with it and how we handle it needs to align with God’s purpose.” Spend time wisely, there is a limited amount Time is similar to money, if it is viewed from the perspective of a zero-based budget. There is a limited amount of time each day. This means there is a limited number of things that we can spend time on each day. We choose where and how we will spend it. It is up to us to know what the most important things are and focus on them first. Pay attention to detail Details matter. Paying attention to details is the best way to circumvent problems. I remember a time early in my construction career when I was working for another contractor. He kept pushing me to go faster, which meant cutting some corners. It ended up that not paying attention to the details cost both of us time and money when we had to go back and redo the work. Never be satisfied with mediocrity Mediocrity is the minimum requirement to be average. God has called us to be above average. He has called us to excellence. Going above and beyond is where we set ourselves apart. It is where we accomplish the most. It is where we are working in our sweet spot. This is the place we were meant to be and the thing we were meant to do. Don’t be average. Find and maintain the balance in everything Balance is critical to living well. It is a constant lifelong quest. It affects all areas of life and is hard to maintain. I see balance as a large platform sitting centered on top of a small point. Without anything on the platform, it is level. When one thing is placed on top of the platform near the center, things go pretty well, and it stays relatively level. As more things are put on the platform (and things begin to be crowded from the center) it starts to get heavier in different areas. This causes the platform to lean. If one heavy thing or too many things are moved too far from the center, the platform will tip far enough that things fall off. Keeping things from falling off the platform is all about weight and location. Our lives are like this platform. God set our platform balanced perfectly on this point and given us the responsibility of keeping it there. The difficult part of this obligation is the number of things we get to choose from to put on our platform. The choices are endless. There is spiritual, family, work, friends, fun, community, etc. and each of these areas are full of an endless number of smaller things that we can put on our platform. Some things carry more weight than others. As we go through life, the things we have on our platform will and should change. FINDING AND MAINTAINING THE BALANCE of our platform is our responsibility. Will we be perfect at it? No. Can we learn and get better at it? YES! To keep this post from getting too long, I’m splitting the list in two. Next week we’ll look at the last six of my core values. Reviewing these core values regularly is a part of my daily routine. This helps keep me aware of them and reminds me to include them in everything I do. If you don’t know what your core values are yet, go back to last week’s post and use the process for how to identify your business’s core values. Ready to take the next step in aligning your business with your core values? To help you build a stronger foundation for your construction business, we’re offering a free, customized proposal system giveaway. Here’s what you’ll win: 4 training sessions to make setup simple 3 follow-ups to perfect your proposals Templates and documents to save you time If you or someone you know would benefit from having a proposal system… Enter Giveaway!

Core Values are Where Success Begins

Show Notes

Without Them You Just Wander

Episode Transcript

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