e-dreaming

As I drove to work this morning, I watched a young driver speeding, bobbing and weaving in an out of traffic, violating almost every law and code of conduct known to exist on the road.  Ironically, and almost comically, when I got to my exit, I found her just one car ahead of me, waiting at the same street light.  Despite her "best" efforts (and the risk of life and limb of others along the way), she was able to improve her position by about three car lengths and a few seconds at best.

Sometimes, in our efforts to resolve our problems or improve our situation, we busy ourselves with a flurry of activity, without real hope of accomplishing our objective.  Why do you think that is?  I have several theories. To name a few:

1. We may think that inactivity or slowness of pace caused us to be in our current situation, and we don't want to make that same mistake again.
2. We have fear that if we don't do something, and do it NOW, our situation will get worse. 
3. We may simply be an adrenaline junky, or have lived life in chaos for so long, we simply don't know how to stop or even slow down.
4. We may falsely be confusing frenzied activity for accomplishment.
5. We may be trying to impress others, seek their approval, or get sympathy.

Regardless of what causes this kind of activity, more often than not, it's a waste of time and energy, and/or can lead to bigger problems (I just knew the young driver was going to get pulled over).  Now, having said that, I, at times, am totally guilty of this very thing, folks.  There are times when my instincts say, "time to turn on the juice, and knock this out!"  And at those times, my sound judgment and level head DOES NOT prevail (even though I know better).

When it comes to business and, more specifically, marketing, frenzied types of (last-minute) activities are probably nothing but a huge waste of time, energy, emotion, and money.  Serious consideration to your branding, messaging, consistency, persistence, desired outcomes, costs, return on investment, etc. are all critical to success.  Pretty much everyone in business appreciates the importance of planning.  Developing a marketing plan is hugely important, and it will help you avoid the pitfalls of last-minute, frenzied, poor-performing marketing/advertising efforts.

I considered following that young driver to her destination this morning, to ask if everything was okay, and/or if there was anything I could do to help her.  However, I was afraid she would think I was a stalker, or worse, would pull out a gun and shoot me.  And it made me think... "I wonder how many folks try to navigate and solve their business problems in the same reckless way?"  I wondered, "if we could track those business owners or marketers down, we could offer to help them. But if we did... would they just pull out a gun and shoot us?"