How success is like an earthquake

By Brian Maynor

 

You don’t often hear success compared to a natural disaster, but these two have one very important commonality, and it’s not laying waste to everything in its path.

Success is like an earthquake because they both need an epicenter.

We all know someone, or have even tried ourselves, to turn a passion into a successful business with little or no avail.  The fact is this happens 90% of the time for one single reason:  we get caught up in all of the other logistics of starting a business and lose or forget about the core reason, or epicenter, of why we started the project in the first place.

Here’s a closer look at how we can turn this situation around and achieve a success:

1.   Define the epicenter.  With regard to earthquakes the epicenter is the point where the process begins, and it’s the same in business.  Our epicenter is the core idea, passion, or reason we are investing in the idea, concept or project.  It is the reason we are doing this project instead of something else.

2.    Stay focused.  Knowing exactly why we’re motivated by a passion is key to being more productive and creating greater quality work.  If we aren’t clear on our epicenter, then we will be easily distracted during the process, frustrating our chances for success.

It’s like an ordinary day at the office.  If we let our focus get pulled to every email, phone call or person that pops into our office at the end of the day we feel nothing was accomplished.  This usually happens when we start the day without a clear plan or focus on what we want to get done.  In other words, we haven’t defined our epicenter, and as a result we had nothing to focus our energy and effort on.

3.    Determine priorities.  Like with an earthquake, everything radiates outward from the epicenter, but with a business epicenter we have to determine how far out to set our focus and when to delegate.  The key to succeeding is keeping our focus on the epicenter and delegating everything else.  There are always going to be other things that need to be addressed, but if we stay focused on our epicenter we will better know how to deal with them.

Whether we’re trying to succeed at launching a passion project, or just have a successful day at work, we need to find, focus and prioritize our epicenter.  Without doing that we will likely spend the day accomplishing tasks, but not achieving success.

 

 

I’m always excited to hear from you, so please email your questions, quandaries and conundrums to [email protected].

 

About Brian Maynor

Brian Maynor has built a reputation as one of the leading style coaches in the Southeast and is quickly expanding his eponymous company, BRIAN MAYNOR and his FIND, FLATTER & FLAUNT line of image consulting services. A professional with a fresh, upbeat and down-to-earth personality and boundless creative energy, he works frequently with with local celebrities; Fortune 500 companies and nonprofit organizations; modeling agencies; fashion designers; production companies; record labels; media and individuals. A regular contributor to various fashion blogs and online communities, Brian Maynor is one of the most trusted and recognized style experts in the region, utilizing his education and training as a broadcast journalist to serve as a style lecturer, emcee, and commentator for over a decade. He has appeared at fashion shows, expos, and charity fundraisers, as well as events with big brands like Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, Chico’s and Macy’s. His approach is innovative, creative and fashion-forward, balancing fresh, modern styles with classic pieces to keep one’s look grounded. To learn more, visit http://www.brianmaynor.com.

 

Sign up here to start your free subscription to MidlandsLife!