Businesses are big on mission statements and slogans.

They often start with phrases like, “We exist in order to…”

Often, these statements and slogans come up empty.

Cliché.

Insincere.

Do you have a mission statement?

Does your business have a slogan?

Why?

I’ve been thinking about this topic a lot lately.

It seems to me that if most businesses were honest, their mission statement would be something like this: “we exist to make a profit anyway we can, for as long as we can, until we get caught.”

Now, I’m not against capitalism. I am 100% in favor of profitable businesses.

But if the philosophy of your business is summed up in “making a profit anyway you can until you get caught”, I think you’re in deep trouble.

On the other end of the spectrum, there are those organizations who struggle financially, but are out to “save the world”. Many non-profits fit this description.

Many of these organizations seem to think the profit motive is inherently evil.

If you think money is evil, chances are you won’t have very much of it.

What if, instead, you adopted a completely outrageous, over-the-top explanation of why your company exists? Of why you exist?

What if your reason for existing was “to save the world, and make a profit in the process.”

What would happen next?

This seems like a good question worth exploring.

I admit it.

I sell hope.

You might call me a dealer. I’m okay with that.

Call it optimism if you will. I like to think of it as encouraging other people to live out their best potential.

There are those who are critical of this mindset; those who are quick to point out everything that is wrong with the world. The economy. Human trafficking. The shifting of global power. Pollution. The health crisis.

They have a point.

Where we differ is how we approach all these problems.

I believe that hope gives birth to answers.

It gives us access to the resources we need (both internal and external) to start solving those problems.

I believe in acknowledging reality; I just don’t believe in stopping there.

Once we’ve identified the problem, it’s time to start focusing on the solution.

A great writer once pointed out three essentials for living on the earth: faith, hope, and love. And while he said that the greatest of these is love (and I agree), I believe that love is birthed when we mix faith and hope.

Optimists just spend less time dwelling on what’s wrong with the world. They spend less time thinking about what might go wrong with their plans.

Sometimes they fall on their faces.

But everything we love about the world originated in the heart of an optimist.

You might think that is overstating the case.

But I happen to believe we were all created by the ultimate optimist-God.

He knew just how wrong the human race would be capable of going. How wrong we would go.

But he saw something in us that he loved.

And he created us anyway.

Gave us the capacity for faith, and for love, and for hope.

That, my friend, is optimism. I like it.

So I’ll just keep on selling hope.

And I hope you will too.

I have decided I am not a fan of, “just sayin”.

I’m sure you’ve heard it. It is usually appended at the end of a statement of opinion.

• “That jacket does not show off your best features. Just sayin’.”
• “That color looks like something you’d find in the babies diaper. Just sayin’.”
• “It seems like you could find a better way to spend your spare time. Just sayin’.”

People use the phrase “just sayin” as a softener. A disclaimer.

A way of indicating, “I have a serious opinion about this, but I’m afraid you won’t like it. So let’s pretend I don’t really mean it-that I’m ‘just saying’ it, but don’t expect you to do anything about it or even take me seriously.”

I’m working on this: if I say it, I mean it. And if I don’t mean it, I don’t say it.

Things don’t always seem the same to your customers as they seem to you.

You might think, for instance, you just did something to serve the customer… and they might have an entirely different perception.

Case in point…

I recently enrolled a large number of students in an online training webinar series.

So far, so good.

At least I thought so…

Thinking I would best serve those students by getting the series underway as soon as possible, I scheduled the webinars immediately after enrollments were complete.

I felt good about this decision, because I would be delivering the material the students had paid for in a very timely fashion.

They wouldn’t have to wait.

I was somewhat surprised to receive an e-mail from a student who was upset with me… for not waiting longer to schedule the online classes!

This student criticized me as being “just like those other Internet marketers” who think only of themselves, and not of their students. What?! I thought I was thinking of my students!

I quickly got over my feelings of having been spat upon, and realized this was an opportunity for me to learn something. My perception of what’s happening can be completely opposite of my customer’s perception.

One of my primary responsibilities as a business owner is to be as aware of these differences as possible, and always working to close the gap between the two.

As my friends in the UK are well aware, it’s very important to “mind the gap”.

Don’t say it to me.

I might punch you.

“The economy,” used as an excuse for some business or personal failing. That’s what I’m talking about.

It seems like wherever I go these days, someone is determined to explain their business problems with those two words.

I’ll get to the airplane photo in a moment, but indulge me. I have a point to make, and I think it’s important directly to you (and me, too).

The point is simply this: it’s important that you and I don’t buy into this kind of loser thinking.

Now if you’re reading this post, chances are you’re not prone to use “the economy” as excuse.

Warning: listening to others who talk this way can slow you down. It’s important that you and I don’t let this garbage start building up in our heads. Because the “economy” depends on our keeping the machine (our brains) clean (free of error).

As entrepreneurs, we (you and I) are the only thing that will “?x” the “economy”.

Atop this post you see me and my buddy Chad, about to go ?y his $700,000 airplane. Chad’s company employs about 20 people. He creates wealth not just for himself, but also for his employees and vendors. Where would all those folks be if Chad threw in the towel because “the economy” is tough?

This winter me, my wife, and the Pugs of Persuasion went on a 5-month, 2,500-mile trip around the Southwestern USA in our motorhome.

Along the way we supported gas stations, restaurants, campgrounds, the National Parks, and a myriad of other entities that needed our money. All fueled by our business. If that’s what you mean by “the economy”, then I’m with you.

If, on the other hand, you mean “the economy” as excuse for poor performance or failure to adapt, then I have just two words for you: stop it!

Jesus said, “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.”

What He was saying was that whatever is inside of us seems to find its way to our lips. Usually we are unaware of this.

Someone once said, “When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem tends to look like a nail.”

The things we habitually say tend to indicate what sort of tools we have available inside us for dealing with our life problems and challenges.

Start paying attention to things you repeatedly say.

They may give you a good indicator of the secrets of your heart that even you were unaware of.

And perhaps point you to the work you need to be doing — work that will grow your character and prepare you for new, higher-level challenges.

SPECIAL NOTE: For a limited time, you can become a member of my new Writing Riches Community at our special Preferred Member Rate. Right now, membership is a no-obligation $97… but in the near future, we may raise the price to $147. Click here right now to lock in your Preferred Rate and save $50.

You have an enemy.

Call it Chaos.

Call it the Un-maker.

Call it Satan.

Your enemy is opposed to every act of creation on your part.

Every act of kindness, generosity, beauty, and grace.

Your enemy wants you to think small, play it safe, keep your head down.

Your enemy tries to tell you that an act of kindness makes you weak.

That forgiveness makes you a doormat.

Your enemy whispers in your ear when you have that idea for a new product that would make people’s lives better, and he says, “That will never work… nobody will buy that… what a stupid idea… it’s too hard.”

You know the enemy’s voice well.

If you’re like 7 billion other people on this planet, you have heeded it too often.

What if you just stopped listening?

What if you told your enemy to sit down and shut up?

What if, today, you did something bold, beautiful, crazy-cool?

Resist the enemy, and he will flee. He only ever had the power you gave him by listening. Stop listening, and he is undone.

And the world will look different to you.

Possibility unfurls.

Miracle follows miracle.

Try it. You’ll like it.

Ever know anyone who has lots of bad luck?

Maybe you know such a person all too well. Here’s a question to consider…

What if there was no such thing as “bad luck”? What if the way you viewed events in your life actually altered the meaning of those events?

I won’t try and convince you.

But I urge you to try the following approach the next time some so-called “bad luck” shows up in your life. Consider the so-called “problem”, and ask the following questions about it:

1. What is good about this?
2. What can I learn from this?
3. How can I use this?

The only unacceptable answer is “Nothing!” You can’t answer any of the questions with that response.

Watch and see if you begin to notice that each bit of “bad luck” carries the seed of something good and even great for your life.

It is about attitude. And it is about more than attitude, too.

“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience” James 1:2-3

Whatever the system (relationships, society, the economy), one thing is true…

Input determines output.

In other words, “you get what you pay for”.

This is not news.

But it is worth thinking about as we enter the new year.

If you want to get something different out of 2011 than you got from 2010 (such as, more business)… get some different input.

You could do worse than to get input from me and my community at http://writingriches.com, where our focus is: making money through writing. Click here to watch a video that explains the whole thing.

We would probably be a lot happier if we could manage to think about what we’re doing, at the time were doing it.

Recently, I was very nearly run down by a woman driving a minivan in a grocery store parking lot.

As I watched my apparent doom racing toward me, I clearly saw that she (the driver) was looking away from the windshield, apparently fascinated by something inside the cabin of her vehicle.

Fortunately, I narrowly (miraculously) escaped an intense encounter with her front bumper. I shouted, she looked shocked, and we both went our way.

“What was she thinking?” I wondered.

The simple answer is: she was thinking about something other than what she was doing.

It seems to me we spend a lot of time thinking about things other than what we’re doing: checking e-mail while we’re talking on the phone, talking on the phone while we’re driving our car, reading while eating, and so forth.

Perhaps we would be happier (not to mention safer) if we could simply manage to do what we are doing when we are doing it.

Just sayin’.