So You Better Do the Right Thing Like Spike Lee

This goes without saying: Do the right thing. People lose so many opportunities and potential money because they won’t do the right thing.

Yesterday I published a podcast episode and show notes, “How to Rediscover Who You Really Are.” These show notes are noticeably shorter my previous show notes. Why? Because I cancelled my contract with my show note producer. Over time she kept increasing the amount of time she needed to summarize the show. She went from 1.5 hours to 2.5 hours. I didn’t make a big deal about it because she was actually producing higher quality show notes which is good for SEO.

I didn’t think she operated with the most integrity because even as my episodes shorten from one week to the next she still took the same amount of time. In the back of mind I was considering not working with her anymore. She is a really sweet person and she does do some digging to find relevant links and whatnot. However, it just always seemed as though her hours reflected more of what she wanted to get paid and less of how much time she genuinely needed to complete the task.

And then I took the month of June off. When I came back she took 3.5 hours to do a 20 minute episode. I immediately cancelled the contract. She was making up for lost time. Yet, how much did she give up trying to compensate for the loss of June income (which is the nature of freelancing)? Hundreds if not thousands.

Doing the wrong thing even if you’re a really nice person will eventually catch up to you. People are not stupid. They notice. And if they’re like me they’re not going to tell you over and over again. I called my assistance out one time when I thought she took more time than she needed. But I didn’t nag her about. I took notice. I gave her the benefit of the doubt. And when she pushed the envelope too far I discontinued using her services without warning.

I’ve come across a lot of shady people in real estate investing and in blogging/podcasting. You lose opportunities when you don’t do the right thing. I wrote about John the roofer in the past. John did a shoddy job on one of my roofs. And then he went ghost. But I have multiple houses and I know other landlords. It would be in his best interest to do a great job to get repeat business and referrals.

Again, it really goes without saying, but apparently it needs to be said. Do the right thing. People notice.

If you make a commitment to do something do it.

If you promise your client or potential client you’re going to do x, y, z do x, y, z. Don’t just do x or x and y. Do it all because they signed up for it all. I’ve worked with coaches where they rattle off all these things they’re going to do for you before you agree to work with them. Yet once you start working with them they don’t do it. Not because they’re bad people, but because they don’t pay attention to what they’ve agreed to. And that don’t care enough to ensure they’re following through.  Doing the right thing means not over-promising intentionally or unintentionally. It means not making agreements without making note of what you’ve agreed to. It means having a process to deliver upon what you have promised. It means having a strong follow through.

If you’re getting paid by the hour don’t pad your hours. Be honest. Save your client money when you can.  It’s easy to compare how much value you received for your money across time or services. People will eventually know that the value of their dollar is decreasing.

If you’ve been given an opportunity you don’t deserve knock it out of the park. Make the person who gave you the opportunity think, “Man, I thought I was blessing them but they blessing me.” Don’t take on an opportunity and then do nothing. Do your part. It’s the right thing to do.

Always do the right thing, because if you don’t you will lose more than you gained by doing the wrong thing. But beyond that do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do. Don’t be self serving in your dealings. Don’t focus so much on what you have to gain that you don’t actually give anything.

Be a person of integrity by doing the right thing like Spike Lee.