We recently attended a seminar , sponsored by JP Morgan Chase and the Dallas Business Journal, featuring our friend, professional speaker and former President of the National Speakers Association, Mark LeBlanc. Mark is well known for his practical advice on growing a profitable business, and the event was geared toward small business owners.  And I am one- so- we went- to cheer Mark on,  pay our respects to the Journal, which sponsors the McCuistion TV program, and to network. The full breakfast an added treat.

Learning more about  growing small businesses was not on my agenda that day,or so I thought.   Well, surprise! I  was there precisely because I needed to hear what Mark had to share. Sometimes one has so much to do- little gets done. And maybe the business strategies we know and use need a jumpstart for today’s world. The old, tried, true big picture strategy all good- yet in challenging times we may need to make a shift.

Mark’s  inspiring yet very down to earth message started with the pilgrimage retreat he  experienced several years ago, walking  the Camino Santiago Compostela in France and Spain. When he told us of sitting down  on a bench, 2 miles into a 500 mile walk, crying with misery because his feet ached and he had this heavy back pack- I could relate. The Camino is strewn with discarded articles, walkers start out with too much on their backs.  When he talked of Judith, an older , heavy set woman, who was also walking the Camino, and who  shared her wisdom with him,  “No matter how miserable you are, you can always take one more step, ” I could relate this to today, and our business climate and the challenges small business owners have, taking that one more step. By then he had lightened his backpack. And in small businesses ,in challenging times, the bare essentials may be what’s needed. Back to basics is sometimes the best remedy to jumpstart your life and your business.

He reminded us that our successful momentum each day is fueled by how we feel; that todays’ performance equals future results. Today’s performance! Hearing Mark tell us to  focus on 3- isolate and do 3 business development steps, I thought of my heavy backpack, and how sometimes I try to do so much , and results  are minimal. And then the Camino, we’re all on one aren’t we,  got way easier when he asked us to ask ourselves a morning and evening question. I said to myself- or maybe I said it aloud’ cause the folks at the table looked at me, DUH!

His simple and elegant questions:

” What am I going to do today to “book” my optimistic $ # for this month?” Not the year, the month, 30 or so days, one step on the Camino, one can always go one more step! At the end of the day he said, ask yourself, ” What did I do today to “book” my optimistic $ # for this month?”

Thank you Mark  LeBlanc for a practical success strategy. One can handle, I can handle one small step at a time. Eventually the goal is reached, finishing the Camino- reaching  the desired outcome, and feeling good about the results.