Black dress

White fascinator

Red lips

Spray tan

Nude heels

Trifectas

Raffles

“The race that stops the nation”

Fashions on the field

This horse

That horse

“Are you coming to the marquee?”

Champagne

Finger sandwiches

Thunder of hooves

It’s Melbourne Cup Day and I feel like a fraud…

Every year from 2000 to 2006, I joined in the Melbourne Cup Day celebrations at work…

And every year, from 2000 to 2006, I felt like a fraud.

So, I’ll tell you a secret…

It’s something I don’t share too often…

Truth is, I don’t like Melbourne Cup Day.

I’m not a “horsey” person

I’ve never enjoyed having a “flutter on the races”

I don’t drink

I get sunburnt from standing too long in the sun

I feel awkward wearing dresses, and fascinators

I just don’t really “get it”

But in 2007, something changed.

I stopped working for someone else, and I started working for myself.

And I got to “run my own race” on Melbourne Cup Day (pun intended!)

I could choose what to do on this day.

And most years, I do absolutely nothing

I don’t watch the race

I don’t place a bet

I don’t dress up

And I don’t go to the local race track

Sometimes I have the afternoon off work

Sometimes I just work through the afternoon.

And you know what I’ve realized?

It doesn’t matter if you LOVE Melbourne Cup Day or you don’t love it…

Because it’s not about Melbourne Cup Day

It’s about being in your own rent roll and running your own race (there’s that pun again!)

When you’re in your own business, you need to set your own goals

Set your own dreams

Set your own standards

Do it your way.

Forget your competition

Take the pressure off yourself

Go after the rent roll growth you want

Don’t chase the rent roll growth that you don’t want

Celebrate the stuff that’s important to you

And ignore the stuff that doesn’t matter

Run your rent roll the way you want to run it

Grow at the pace you want to grow

Offer the service to your landlords that you want to offer

Ignore the service levels offered by your competitors

Charge what you’re worth

Not what your competitors charge

Commit to doing that stuff that matters to YOU

Not the stuff that everyone else is doing

And if you don’t want to go to the races on Melbourne Cup Day, that’s okay.

But if you do want to go to the races, go for it!

You do you

Because no one else can be you

Commit to the rent roll growth goals, dreams and values that you set for yourself.

And if you want to know how to commit to the stuff that matters to you, download my free workbook on the 4 Steps To Total Commitment Here

If you haven’t seen my last blog titled How to overcome the loneliness of business be sure to check that out next!