I wish you a fantastic year full of health, joy, laughter, and the success you desire in every area of your life. I’ve decided to make 2025 the best year ever. Because life is a choice. Why wait and see what happens when we can make a meaningful decision right at the start?
In our last Caribbean Rebels Community Call of 2024, we talked about our goals and wishes for 2025. For this, I picked up a wonderful book by Vanessa Kullmann, the founder of Balzac Coffee Shops. She started her business at a time when coffee shops were hardly known in Germany and considered a fancy concept exclusive to the U.S. No big deal, right?
Among the many inspiring stories and highlights in her book, I’d like to share a small excerpt for the new year. In one chapter, she explains her approach to hiring the right employees:
“I don’t require any prior knowledge because I wanted to teach my people everything myself, and what I had planned was new anyway. For me, it was primarily about finding personalities who would fit the team. So, they had to:
- Simply be nice,
- Enjoy their work,
- Love drinking coffee.”
If you’re anything like me, you’re probably nodding in agreement and think: Well, that’s obvious, isn’t it? But is it really? Haven’t you ever been in a store and wondered who hired the “cash register monster”? Or questioned why the “aisle-dragger” looks like gravity has permanently pulled their mouth corners down? Or why a waiter, when asked for a steak recommendation, responds, “I don’t eat meat”?
Wouldn’t it be simple to find the right people for the right job?
“Oh, Norman, but we have a labor shortage and…”
Nonsense! As my brilliant client Dirk once said:
“We don’t have a labor shortage. The skilled workers are there—they’re just working for the competition.”
He’s absolutely right.
What I want to offer you at the start of this year isn’t a critique of others but a reflection on yourself:
Are you nice? Whether in traffic, shopping, or interacting with your clients or loved ones—are you nice to yourself and to others?
Do you enjoy what you do? I mean genuinely enjoy it to the point that it shows on your face, with your mouth corners naturally turning upwards. Or are you already in “sad mode” because the holiday is over and it’s back to the grind? (Editor’s note: Who chose that grind anyway? #RadicalSelfResponsibility)
Do you love what you do?
Are you a coach without a coach of your own? A financial advisor with an empty bank account? A marriage counselor who’s single? Or someone in the service industry who hasn’t quite grasped the value of a tip?
“But Norman, I’m not working in the field I truly love…”
Why not? If you could spend every day doing what you truly love, don’t you think your enthusiasm would inspire and excite others? Success naturally follows when passion and purpose align.
Let me close with Vanessa Kullmann’s words:
“To this day, I’m my own best customer, and I wouldn’t offer anything I wouldn’t gladly consume myself. Every morning, my first stop is the shop.”
Be kind. Enjoy what you do. And be your biggest fan when it comes to your work, your product, or your service.
All the best for the new year.
