Passion, priorities and discipline (delayed gratification)

I’ve consistently advocated that you need to enjoy what you are doing, and be able to do it exceptionally well, to succeed in business overall, and construction industry marketing specifically.  Without this combination, you won’t be able to persevere, perform your best consistently, and handle the special urgencies where you need to work at a higher, more intense level.  The business (and marketing) challenge is to correlate your passions with your clients — and to focus on activities which result in the greatest mutual reward.

Here, things get a little more complicated because what we enjoy doing the most (and sometimes are really good at) doesn’t always correlate with the business needs and client wishes.  Worse, you can be played for a sucker by talented and effective sales representatives who play these practices on you — selling you “solutions” that match your interests and your values, but might not really be the best real value in the marketplace.

So you need to add a third layer in your decision-making and vision:  Discipline and the ability to delay gratification.  In some cases, especially with advertising budgets, this means (after careful research and thought) allocating money to an advertising campaign, and continuing with it even when it doesn’t appear to be producing results immediately (though I would, in my planning, devise measuring strategies where you determine right away if you are on track.)  In other cases you may need to forgo the luxury purchase of the toy or technology you really want, though I might build in a reward of sorts for achieving intermediate goals.

I’ll still spend time on activities which don’t produce much in the way of immediate financial return.  You won’t get too far in life and have much meaning if you acquire massive wealth but don’t have time for your family.

Your biggest win is when you can combine everything in a positive and rewarding combination.  And, yes, it can be done.  For me, writing and journalism have always been passions, so it clearly makes sense to blog — on a topic relevant to my business (so it is reasonably easy to maintain the discipline of writing daily, keeping it up for years.)  Where are your passions?  Connect these with your priorities and reasonable self-discipline, and you’ll likely enjoy meaningful and lasting marketing success.

Have you found ways to connect your passions to your marketing?  You can comment, or if you prefer, participate in a discussion at the linkedin.com Construction Marketing Ideas group or  Facebook Construction Marketing Ideas page.