Brian Golbourne asked:


In the words of don Miguel Ruiz and don Jose Ruiz, “Everything we do is based on agreements we have made – agreements with ourselves, with other people, with God, with life. But the most important agreements are the ones we make with ourselves. In these agreements we tell ourselves who we are, how to behave, what is possible, what is impossible. One single agreement is not such a problem, but we have many agreements that come from fear, deplete our energy, and diminish our self-worth. In these agreements we tell ourselves who we are, how to behave, what is possible, what is impossible.”

You may be familiar with the powerful book, “The Four Agreements,” which was on the New York Times best seller list for over eight years. In this book, Ruiz explains the agreements which we make that dictate our being. What most aspiring entrepreneurs and the future business owners of the world don’t realize is – if you take these same principals and apply them to your small business, you will be guaranteed success. That’s right – guaranteed.

The first agreement that you must make with yourself and the commitment that you must make to your small business, is that you will be impeccable with your word. If you practice saying only what you mean and make a habit of that, you will gain trust and a positive reputation for yourself and your business. The same applies no matter what your field or business of choice is. In sales, marketing, hospitality or general managerial / leadership qualities, a person or establishment which is impeccable with their word is usually held to a higher standard than others. If an individual is notorious for constantly doing what they said they were going to do – chances are you will go back to them the next time you need something done. Your word is all you have. Once you go back on your word- in the eyes of others, your personal value or the value of your business has depreciated. Practice using the power of your word to drive you to success.

Next – don’t take anything personally. Business is business and the sooner you realize that nothing that anyone else does is because of you (or your fault), the better off you’ll be. Everyone is in business for one reason – profitability. All of us have one goal – and that is to maximize revenue and decrease cost. If something is done in what might be seen as a selfish manner or “cut throat,” remember its just business. What others say and or do is only a projection of their perception or reality. Think about this – if you were to call someone a green frog they may not react poorly since they acknowledge the fact that they are not a green frog. However if you were to call that person ugly instead, they may react differently! You shouldn’t take this personally. It has nothing to do with what you are actually saying to that person – but instead their perception or reality of themselves. Notice the difference in reactions when you call them ugly vs. the green frog. You’ve pushed one of their buttons and it sounds like it may be a confidence issue that they need to work out with themselves, not concerning anything that you may have said or done. The issue was pre-existing before you made any comments – so don’t take it personally! Making business decisions that are influenced by personal feelings or bias can be detrimental to your establishment. Put your personal feelings aside and always put the best interest of your business and assets first.

The third agreement that is an absolute requirement to the success of your business is to never make assumptions. By definition, an assumption is a proposition that is taken for granted, as if it were known to be true. Have you ever been around the President, CEO or Owner of a company? My experience of them is being very meticulous and they all seem to have a tendency to ask a lot of questions. This is because they know better. We can really set ourselves up for failure if we continue to take action on important business decisions based off of assumptions. Never assume that someone is going to handle a situation or task that you asked them to. Never assume that your customers or guests are satisfied. Never assume that anything will be okay. This is why CEOs are CEOs. Instead of assuming, they ask the necessary questions to make sure they are correct. If your business is your lifeline, why would you put even the smallest piece of it in jeopardy by believing something about it, with little or no evidence? Stay true to this agreement and you will flourish in your personal and entrepreneurial life.

The last agreement – always do your best. Why wouldn’t you? It sounds like a simple agreement to make, but how often do you say you do your best, when in fact, you know you could have done more? Think about it and be honest with yourself. There are too many things that we all do in our lifetimes that we are not giving our best. Imagine how powerful you would be if you shifted your focus, and gave 100%, 100% of the time. Believe it or not, its harder than it seems. But think about the possibilities that are available to you, if you were to always give your best towards your business. Unless you had a horrible, horrible business concept, I think there’s no way your efforts won’t pay off.

In conclusion, I am a firm believe that your success in your business is mind over matter. If you make an agreement with yourself and to your business that you will be impeccable with your word, never take anything personally, never make assumptions and always do your best, you will be amazed at the outstanding results you will achieve. It sounds easy, but unfortunately, it’s not. We break commitments and agreements to ourselves and each other every day. There’s always tomorrow or some good excuse as to why we are putting something off or not doing it at all. Be responsible, acknowledge your breakdown and get back on the horse. “Say only what you mean. The word is the most powerful tool we have as human beings,” says Don Miguel Ruiz and Jose Ruiz. This gift of knowledge that they give us is something they encourage us to use in our lives. I encourage you to start by applying it to your small business. It’s time to start taking committed action towards your success. What legacy will you leave behind?



Willa