It’s easy to use force to accomplish your objectives.
- Go straight for the sale by telling your customer every benefit of your offering.
- Shout “look-at-me” on social media to get attention.
- Jump from meeting to email to some other urgent task to feel productive.
More often than not, you'll find success with this approach. As such, like a pigeon that finds a seed in a pile of rocks, you continue pecking in search of more success using this blunt tool called force.
Here's the problem.
Force requires energy. Your energy. Moreover, you can only force your will for so long before your energy is depleted.
There’s a better way.
In Aikido, a Japanese martial art developed in the early 1900's and brought to the world in 1951, students are asked to "blend" into their attackers' energy and momentum. In doing so, they can redirect the attackers' force and guide it at will.
When facing a sword attack unarmed, stopping the blade with blunt force is a bad idea. Instead, turn and move with the blade, guiding the attackers' hands to the side. Then, use their momentum to drive them out of harm's way.
And so it can be with business, marketing, sales, productivity, life.
When possible, don’t fight your goal head-on. Learn from others, build new skills, and ride the wave of those who have tackled the same goal before you.
Don't force your offerings on your customer. Enter the conversation already going on in your customers' mind and gently guide them to understand how you can provide value in their life.
Force takes energy. Force leaves behind defeated customers and a suspicious market.
Force, in business, is not a multiplier.
About the Author
Mike Mehlberg
Co-Founder | Business Multiplier Aficionado
Mike Mehlberg has fond memories of getting thrown around on the Aikido mat in college, but now enjoys flipping productivity, organization, and entrepreneurship on it's head. Join his ramblings on Modern da Vinci by clicking subscribe below.