“Grateful is our mindset.”
If you work at TLCHQ or hear me speak, you will hear me say that starting your day being grateful is very important, and I want everyone to do the same. I believe that starting your day with a grateful mindset makes all the difference in your day, and if you remember to do it daily, it will make all the difference in your life.
Eventually, if you start your day being grateful and make it a habit and a lifestyle, it will get easier. You will begin to only ‘see’ the things around you that you should be grateful for instead of seeing things that don’t matter or don’t inspire you.
Most of what I have learned about being grateful and how important it is has come over time, but my biggest lesson of being grateful came early. I was 15 years old, and my father, who never finished grade school, taught me something about being grateful that all the people around me with advanced formal education never did. It was a simple reminder that staying grateful no matter what would always ensure success in life.
As a young teen, I was a partner in a landscaping business with my brother Joe. It was called “Licari Brothers Landscaping.” We had grown from 5 or 6 customers (close neighbors) when we were very young to about 30 customers weekly and various landscape jobs in addition to those weekly accounts.
I was 14, and he was 17; it was something we had worked together on for five years, and we were doing well. At the age of 18, my brother decided to pursue a career in house painting, and I found myself at 15 in charge of a not-so-small business by myself. Thirty customers was not a very big company, but I was young, immature, and had school to attend as well, so it was very intimidating when I realized I had to do this myself, but I knew I wanted to.
There was one challenge, though, that was going to be hard to deal with. I was 15, and we had acquired customers outside our neighborhood, and I did not have a license which meant I would not be able to drive there. “What was I going to do,” I thought? I told my dad that I would contact the customers outside our neighborhood and inform them that I would not be able to service them this year to find someone else.
My dad did not have it; he said, “Absolutely not; I will drive you to them.” His plan was for me to do all the accounts outside my neighborhood on Saturday, which was a day he did not work and would drive for me that day. I didn’t realize it at that moment, but I was so grateful I did not have to quit on my customers; I loved cutting their grass, and it made them happy, which made me happy. My dad saved the day for me that year, but what happened next made me start thinking in a way that changed me forever, and I know it will change you too.
The day had come, the first Saturday of the new lawn season and my dad was going to drive me to my customer’s homes with my equipment. I was excited to spend time with my dad because he always taught me how to do physical things better, and I was always eager to learn. When we pulled up to the first house, my dad taught me something about mindset and gratefulness that I never forgot and still remind myself to this day.
This man that never finished the 5th grade put the truck in park and said these words to me. He said, “Son, I am going to tell you something that you need to know if you are going to be successful in this business and any business.” I, of course, answered, okay, tell me. He went on to say, “You have a pretty good business for a kid that is so young, but it can fall apart quickly if your mindset does not stay where it needs to be.”
I did not understand what he meant, and then he broke it down into a simpler way for me. My dad said, “Son, one day you are going to be frustrated, tired, hot and sweaty, in a bad mood or just plain not having a good day, and when that happens, you might make this small mistake.” I was all ears at this point.
He went on to say, “As long as you always remember that your customers are doing you a favor by allowing you to service them, you will always be okay. But as soon as you start thinking that you are doing them a favor, the business will suffer.” I was blown away, it made so much sense, and it was simple for me to remember.
He also explained that my customers had choices; they had other companies they could choose to spend their money with and were doing me a favor by allowing me to cut their grass and as long as I never forgot that I would do well. He ended by saying, “don’t ever think to yourself that if someone is paying you to do anything for them, you are doing them a favor; if they pay you, it’s never a favor!” He was pretty passionate about that and said it loudly.
I remembered what my dad said that whole year, and it helped me stay grateful, and it helped me do a better job. This translated to other people wanting my service, and my business started to grow, and I had to hire people to help me. It was a lesson I appreciated then and still appreciate now.
I still remind myself every day that when someone buys a bottle of NutraBurst®, a month supply of Delgada coffee, or even a bar of soap, that they are doing us a favor, and I always treat them that way. If someone calls us, emails us, joins one of our daily broadcasts, or attends a TLC event, I remind myself, as should you, that they are doing US a favor, not the other way around, and last I checked, TLC is doing pretty well and growing.
Why are we growing? Is it because of the products, the business opportunity, our technology, our marketing, etc.? No, that only helps get people started; what keeps them here and keeps them telling others about us is that we treat everyone like they are doing us a favor, and they can feel that!
I challenge you this week to remind yourself that every TLC customer, Life Changer, sample customer, and even community members that are not buying anything from us are doing us a favor, not the other way around, and you will find that this grateful mindset will help you be happier, perform better and have a purpose.
This week’s final note is a reminder that this lesson is not just about business and customers; it’s about life in general. Remember this week and always that your friends, family, significant others, and anyone special in your life are doing you a favor by being in it, even if it doesn’t appear that way. Just be the person that is always doing the favor, and your constant grateful mindset will allow you to have success most people only dream about; I promise you that!
I love you all and hope you have a great week; thanks for all you do every day, and thanks for remembering that our customers are doing us a favor and not the other way around!
Thanks for reading, and until next week keep doing favors!
