Have Your Cake and Eat It Too | The Brilliance Mine

Have Your Cake and Eat It Too

How did you manage to have your cake and eat it too?

This morning,  at 5:43 am,  I had an “aha.” In my mind, I was starting to write a Brilliance Nugget about “Money and You.” It is the name of an amazing course I took in 2012. Exactly as the title says, “Money and You” is about money and yourself. What is my relationship with money? I got to explore that question in this three-day course.

The course was more than sitting in a seat, listening to a presenter, and scribbling notes. It was jam-packed with experiential games. We then debriefed these games with the help of our amazing facilitator, Kerry Zurier. And I love and appreciate Doria (DC) Cordova, the CEO/ owner of  Owner Excellerated Business Schools® (BSE) and the Money & You® Program. She always says she had the good fortune to take over this work from Marshall Thurber who created it originally. I give the “Money and You” program, DC Cordova, and Kerry Zurier a lot of credit. I learned a  lot. It opened my life to a better relationship between myself and money.

Back to why I rushed out of bed at 5:43 am when, for once, I could have slept longer?

In “Money and You” we learned that when you have found a way to make money, you can do it over and over again with ease. This morning I had a major “aha” around that piece of wisdom.

Take Your Pick

Let’s look. Which one would you do?

  1. Get a payoff from something you can do reliably over and over.
  2. Pursue a “home run” and get 20x the payoff (or whatever factor it may be). But your chances of getting that payoff are far, far less.

We often attempt to invent “home runs” instead of leveraging something that we already can do well.  I have seen that so many times. I have done it, too.

Why is that? Option #1 might not be “sexy. ” The payoff in option #1 might not feel exciting. And doing the same thing over and over can feel boring.  In contrast, challenging yourself to get a home run might feel more exciting.

What is the Real Choice? What Are We Often Missing?

The point we often miss here is that the real choice is this:

  1. Get a payoff from something you can do reliably over and over. Be smart about it:
    • Scale it up. Automate it, or delegate it. Do the same thing on a bigger scale. Scale up your impact and payoff. 
    • Gain your freedom back. Do the scaling in a way that does not need you, or at least, needs you less. Then you can think of new things and pursue new adventures.
  2. Pursue  a “home run” and get 20x the payoff. But your chances of getting that payoff are far, far less. And 20x payoff is far less that the payoff from option #1 when you leverage it correctly.

Now, which option do you want to take?

My “Aha” This Morning

My “aha” this morning? The obvious way to make option #1 happen is with Brilliance Extraction™! Duh. Extract your brilliance, leverage it and make it immortal.

Remember, “Brilliance” is your unique combination of expertise, experience, and wisdom. Your company runs on that brilliance. (Your non-profit or other worthy endeavors do, too.)  Document and make trainable the process/es you go through to create the value that you get paid for.

Don’t stop with on-the-job training either. That is risky. People can leave or various circumstances can (and eventually will) prevent them from showing up at work. Brain drain is all too common.

Instead, put your brilliance into a durable system that will live on beyond your involvement. That generates freedom and many choices for you. It helps you stay at the cutting edge, too. You have more time to think of new things. With Brilliance Extraction,™ we can pull that brilliance out of your head. Or it could be the head of someone who is working for or with you.

It makes invisible brilliance into a visible, tangible, and permanent asset. With this asset, you can scale up option #1. That is the option you know gives a reliable and consistent payoff.  That is akin to having your “cake.”

Have Your Cake and Eat It Too

Yet, you are no longer needed to run that process.

  • You got your freedom back while enjoying the impact and income the process is creating.
  • You can think of new things and go on new adventures.
  • And you actually made it immortal at the same time.

Wow. That is like having your cake and eating it, too!

What About My Work?

That is exactly what I am doing right now.

  • Initially, Brilliance Extraction™, my process to pull your brilliance out of your brain, required me personally to do it. My bandwidth is limited and therefore I can take on only so many clients with whom to do this work.
  • With some help, (eating my own dog food) I pulled my brilliance out of my brain and put it into a course. and tested that course with a few people in a live workshop.
  • The next step was to create an online course which is now launching. With this course and facilitated live sessions, scaling up the impact of Brilliance Extraction™ is possible.
  • A certification program for business advisors will be coming soon, too.

That way, many more people can enjoy the benefits of Brilliance Extraction™: Impact, large monetary ROI, freedom, and legacy.

My intention is to leave this process as my legacy. If I didn’t teach Brilliance Extraction™ to others I would take it with me. The cemetery is rich with brilliance. That’s “No bueno” (no good) if you ask me.

I’m Curious

  • When, if ever, have you chosen option #2 (pursue a high but uncertain payoff)?
  • When have you chosen option #1 (pursue a lower but certain payoff and then massively scaled up that process)?
  • What conclusions are you drawing for your life and your work right now?

Stephie Althouse

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