National Clothesline

“Try not. Do or do not, there is no try.”— Yoda

There is a perpetuated, harmful dichotomy between what people experience in high school and college versus what they experience in the real world. In today’s public schools, students are being led to believe that “trying” counts for something, but in real life, it counts for nothing. Instead, only results count.

In the school environment, coaches are pressured to commend their teams for how hard they tried even though they lost, teachers praise students for trying, and parents praise their kids for trying. They say, “Well, you really tried and that’s what matters.”

As a result, people are taught and conditioned to moan and whine “But I tried so hard... I put a lot of hard work into this... I put in 20 hours… I worked for 20 years!” They then expect a pat on the head, gold star and other rewards purely because of their efforts.

Many who go unrewarded simply for “trying” become bitter, resentful and jealous of the success of others, especially those who seem to achieve their success easily.

In real life, “trying” counts for zip. In real life sports, a team that tries real hard but fails in game after game sees its coaches fired and a bunch of players turned loose at the end of the season.

In real life business, a CEO who screws up gets eaten alive by the stockholders, a salesman who misses quota gets canned.

Real life offers rewards for one thing and one thing only — setting and achieving goals.

Remember that part in Star Wars where Luke says “I’ll try,” and Yoda says, “There is no try, only DO!”

Yoda was talking about commitment, a value sorely lacking with most cleaners nowadays when it comes to marketing and promoting their businesses. It seems everyone is “trying” yet only a few committed cleaners are actually “doing.”

When someone says they will try, what are they are really saying is, “I’d like to do it but I’m not sure I can,” or “I want to do it but how can I be certain it will pay off,” or “I’d love to have those results but it looks like a lot of work.”

To put it another way, they calculate and reason. But in order to get stuff done and put marketing into action, you have to be unreasonable.

For example, if you were asked to make a commitment to add 10 new customers during the next week, you might say, “Well, I’ll try, but I have a lot of things on my plate. It might take a lot of time, blah, blah, blah.” That’s being reasonable.

But let’s change the scenario a little bit. Let’s say you get a call from a stranger who says, “I just stole your new BMW and you’ll never see it again if you don’t get 10 new customers by next weekend.”

At this point, only an idiot would be reasonable. Instead, you’d find some way, by hook or by crook, to get 10 new customers through your door. You wouldn’t “try,” you’d make it happen. And it would probably happen in a day or two, not even a week.

You’d be committed.

And when you’re committed things happen. Being committed isn’t about getting everything perfect first. It isn’t about overcoming all your doubts and fears before you start. It’s not about having the time. It’s not about hoping and wishing and praying.

It’s about making it happen. Period.

True commitment is generated by wants, wishes and desires. It could be security, or riches, or success… almost anything. Only you know what that want actually is.

Most cleaners strive to grow their business and attract more customers. Fair enough, but why? What’s behind that want? If you’re not in touch with it, then you’re just going through the motions. You’re spending a lot of time “trying” and all the while wondering why getting customers is such a struggle.

Getting customers ceases to be a struggle when you’re in touch with your want and the commitment to fulfill it. Instead it becomes an exciting and stimulating challenge.

So what’s your want?

Remember when you started your business? You had it then… perhaps it was the idea of financial freedom or a flexible time schedule or maybe just the chance to work for yourself without a boss watching you.

Maybe you realized then that you had a real talent and that if you got to use that talent it would be very fulfilling in many ways. You got out there and were enthusiastic until you hit the marketing speed bump and thought to yourself, “Nobody told me marketing my services would be this hard. Nobody is interested in what I’m offering. The economy is bad. I’m not a born salesperson. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.”

If you buy into those thoughts, your enthusiasm will dim and the business will become a struggle… a slog and not that much fun anymore.

Actually, many, perhaps most, cleaners are stuck at this stage. They’ve approached marketing as something they’ll “try” because they must. They will not, however, commit to any program for an extended period of time nor will they ever have either a short term or long-range marketing plan in place. In the end, they are resigned to simply make an effort.

Don’t approach the promotion of your business half-heartedly. Start by getting in touch with your original want and commitment. Tap into the inspiration generated by that want. Remember what it was. Write it down. Talk to people about it. Take action.

Start making some unreasonable promises. Promises such as… “I will get 10 new customers this week.” Not, “I will try to get 10 new customers.”

See what happens. It might surprise you.

Remember, only results matter. Trying counts for nothing!