What would you do for a brand new bike?

It’s pretty much the end of January (I know, I cannot believe it either): you have survived the longest month of the year when it comes to the gap between pay-days! Now that’s something to celebrate. How has the first 8.3% of 2023 treated you? You may feel supercharged and like you are gaining momentum, or like you have slowly spiraled back into the same routine/rut as before. Either way, I think what I have to share with you today is applicable regardless of the category you find yourself in.

As we love to do, I will start with a story:

As many of our regular readers know (thank you for being a regular by the way!) and for those of you who are new (you are very welcome): I am a mother of two little girls (aged 1 and 3). My three-year-old recently made me remember the importance of gaining and maintaining traction. She wants a bicycle really badly and given that her birthday is on the 26th of December, she is going to have to wait a whole year to get one. With the biggest sparkle in her eyes, she showed us the pink bike, with the white basket and bell she wants. It was hard saying no, but my husband and I really want to teach her the value of working for the things you want and this situation presented itself beautifully.

We explained that she could get the bike if she helped us save the money to buy one (life lesson 2 money doesn’t grow on trees). We started talking about what saving could look like and how she could go about earning money. She then came up with a (may I say) brilliant plan and has put into action. She has started her own business – without going into the detail to avoid belaboring the point. At the age of 3! I WAS IMPRESSED. The first transaction she did was priceless – when her first customer gave her money in return for the goods she had worked so hard to put together – her little face absolutely beamed!!!

So why the long story?

1. She didn’t enjoy the hard work all the time. At first putting her plan into action was fun (the first hour, if I have to be honest). After which she pretty much needed a continuous reminder of why she was doing it. I had to keep helping her see the bigger picture: the pink bike, the basket, the bell. We are no different. When things become challenging it is easier for us to slip into our old routine. Remind yourself WHY this matters. Your goal, your resolution, your win, whatever it may look like for you.

2. She found a great (and pretty obvious, in hindsight) solution to solving her problem. But don’t invent solutions to problems that don’t exists. Keep it simple. When we overcomplicate and overengineer our lives and our goals, they end up requiring so much effort that we eventually just give up. Start by keeping things simple, you can figure out the detail as you go along. But just start!

3. Every afternoon when she comes home the first thing she sees is the baskets with the product she is selling. This reminds her to pack one more packet and keeps her on track. You can’t sell something that doesn’t exist. Use your environment to help you edge forward. Set your environment up to help you achieve your goals. And then be sure to stay consistent, rather than perfect in your efforts.

4. Every time she becomes a little discouraged because not everyone wants to buy what she is selling or when she doesn’t feel like putting her product together – I get to remind her of how great it feels filling up her piggy bank. Visualise the end result. Think about how great it will feel when you reach that aim.

5. We are cheering her on and encouraging her to stay on track. Like her, all of us need a circle of people around us who are excited to see us succeed and who want to be part of that beautiful moment. Have cheerleaders and be one for others that are pursuing their goals. Remember that not everybody is as excited about your success as you are, so critically evaluate your circle and the people you share your dreams with!

I cannot wait for her to have saved up enough money to buy that bike. I am also super grateful for the opportunity to teach her these lessons on route to the goal!

Thank you for listening to my story. I hope you find something you can use in your own life. Maybe your goal is not getting a pink bike, but I’m very sure there are things you would like to accomplish this year, dreams you want to see become reality. We’ll talk about that some more next week. In the meantime, have a lovely weekend!

PS. We’ve partnered with a qualified movement and nutrition expert to put together a comprehensive Wellness Day offering for businesses and teams. You can find more by clicking HERE or email us directly for more info.​​

At PurposeWorks we are all about Making You and Your Work Rock. Our focus is on Organisational Health and Design, Employee Centered Culture, Leadership Development and Performance Coaching. For more information on how we can help you create a work environment that rocks, develop a great team, become an inspiring leader or unlock your personal excellence talk to us at info@purposeworks.co.za.