Your Business Is Your Business

“We should manage our fortune as we do our health – enjoy it
when good, be patient when it is bad, and never apply violent
remedies except in an extreme necessity.”
-- La Rochefoucauld

You can choose to keep some or all of your business private. You
can also choose what you want to share. You can share your business
successes, struggles, hopes and dreams. Do what feels right
for your business. There are cultures where, as a right of passage
to adulthood, people pack their bag and go off to live and travel
alone, to feel themselves in relation to the size of the space around
them, to face challenges and solve problems with their higher-power-
given gifts of good sense and trial and error. We are a culture that
encourages group trips to the ladies room and the dressing room.
Sometimes you will need colleagues to support you and keep you
motivated. Other times you will need alone time to fi gure out what is
best for your company. It is up to you to decide which method works
best for you.

What Is Economics Anyway?

“Economic depression cannot be cured by legislative action
or executive pronouncement. Economic wounds must be
healed by the action of the cells of the economic body – the
producers and consumers themselves.” – Herbert Hoover

ECONOMIC – Of or pertaining to the production, development,
and management of material wealth, as of a country,
household, or business enterprise.

ECONOMICAL – not wasteful or extravagant; prudent and
thrifty in management.

ECONOMICS – the science that deals with the production,
distribution, and consumption of commodities. (The
American Heritage Dictionary, Houghton Miffl in Company,
1982).

You may have thought that economics was difficult and someone
else’s job to deal with it. These are simple definitions. No bar charts,
graphs or confusing big words needed. You have choices of what and
where you spend your money. Be conscious of your waste with choices
that you make.

Choices, Choices, Choices

“You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have
the courage – pleasantly, smilingly, non apologetically – to
say ‘no’ to other things. And the way to do that is by having
a bigger ‘yes’ burning inside. The enemy of the ‘best’ is often
the ‘good.’” – Stephen Covey

Economics is the study of how human beings make choices. There
is never enough money or time to do everything you want, so you
must choose. This is where priorities come in. You make time to do
the things that are most important to you.

Take a look at your life. If your health is important to you, what are
you doing to make yourself healthy? If having money is a priority,
what are you doing to increase your wealth? Do you choose spending,
investing or saving your money? Where do you spend your
money? Do you spend money on the BOD-Ē-NOMICS lifestyle of
healthy and wealthy? Or do you choose the sick, broke and complaining
lifestyle?

Your wants usually outweigh your capacity to satisfy. You may be
asking yourself, what should I eat today? What is the best way to
spend my dollar? This is where the concept of opportunity costs
comes in. “What is each decision I make going to cost me?” and “Is
it worth it?” Rather than eating and spending with no direction, you
may now be involved in the important decisions of your life, your
corporation, your factories, and your health. With every choice, the
cost question can be further broken down to “What is it going to
cost me today?” and “What is it going to cost me in the future?”
For example, the soda and fries today each cost less than a dollar.
However, if these items were consumed on a daily basis, the future
could bring you sickness and cost you thousands in health care. You
know that eating “junk” is bad for you, but because the results are
not instant, you tend to think it doesn’t matter.

You are only allotted a certain amount of time on this earth. Do you
want to spend it with extra pounds and sick, or at your ideal body
size and healthy? Do you want to live financially free, or spend your
time praying that you can make it to the next paycheck? Are you
fibbing to your stockholders and telling them everything is fine with
the way the business is running? Now that you are the CEO, you
can’t fudge that bad quarterly report. Do you want the best company
possible? The choice is yours. The choices you make everyday
determine the outcome of your life. Those decisions brought you to
where you are today. If you want something better, then you need to
make better choices.

Do I choose doughnuts, eggs, cereal, fruit, bacon or sausage for
breakfast? Do I choose to skip breakfast all together? What will be
the effect on my body with each choice I make? Do I eat fast because
I am always running late? Do I take the time to relax and
enjoy every bite of the food of my choice? Do I choose vegetarian
meals or do I eat meat?

Wendy: I was food shopping yesterday and wanted to buy
some items to make appetizer party platters. I was in the
cracker isle and the name brand crackers were on sale 2
for $4, I thought what a deal, then I saw the store brand
crackers were 3 for $4. A better deal, I picked up the three
boxes. I got to the bakery and found a loaf of pumpernickel
bread for $2.49 shaped to make mini sandwiches. Then I
thought, what is better for me health wise and money wise?
I know those cracker boxes will still be in my cupboard after
the party platters are finished and they will be available
for unconscious nibbling until the boxes are gone. I know
I will make myself sick and my pants will get tighter. I put
the cracker boxes back, bought the pumpernickel and felt
really good about myself. That night for munchies I had
grapes and apples and they were from a local farm and super
sweet. All my cravings were satisfied, I felt good about
myself and my jeans still fit me in the morning.

Common sense is all about acknowledging what is real and making
choices for the best interest of your company.

Wendy: I remember my dad saying “Some people have
book smarts and some people have common sense. A few
people are blessed with both.” We like to think that everyone
is capable of both, perhaps they just don’t always choose to
exercise their options. Also, what is common sense to one
person may not be common sense to another depending on
where you are in life. We are learning that every day.
We all have common sense. It is how we use our sense that makes
us unique.

BOD-Ē-NOMICS Strategy:
• When you are about to take a bite or spend money, ask
yourself, “Is this a good investment for my body company?”
If yes: do it and feel good. If no: don’t do it and feel good. It
is that simple.