The Resilient Entrepreneur's Guide to Ethical Decision-Making - Part 2
May 29, 2024
Hank Eder / Nicole Majik
Uncover the strategies that will anchor your home business in ethical practices and long-term success with Nicole Majik, our empowerment strategist extraordinaire. Prepare to navigate the murky waters of temptation in the entrepreneurial world, as we expose the lust for quick, often unethical wins and how it threatens to undermine your business integrity. Nicole takes us through the maze of real-world scenarios from the construction to financial sectors, where the desire for instant gratification has led to regrettable decisions. With her guidance, you'll learn how to steer clear of the siren call of overnight success and instead, lay a foundation for sustainable growth that won't crumble under the weight of tomorrow's challenges.
Then, we shift gears to dissect the sloth and greed that infect business practices, leading to a culture where profit trumps ethics. We'll discuss the stark disparities in wealth distribution within companies and how this is contributing to a sustainability crisis in entrepreneurship. As we examine the pitfalls of complacency and the illusion of effortless success, Nicole imparts invaluable wisdom on fostering a proactive work ethic and embracing change. This episode is a crucial compass for anyone seeking to build a business that not only thrives today but also enriches the lives of its stakeholders and withstands the test of time. Join us for an invigorating session that promises to fortify your entrepreneurial journey with integrity and foresight.
Uncover the strategies that will anchor your home business in ethical practices and long-term success with Nicole Majik, our empowerment strategist extraordinaire. Prepare to navigate the murky waters of temptation in the entrepreneurial world, as we expose the lust for quick, often unethical wins and how it threatens to undermine your business integrity. Nicole takes us through the maze of real-world scenarios from the construction to financial sectors, where the desire for instant gratification has led to regrettable decisions. With her guidance, you'll learn how to steer clear of the siren call of overnight success and instead, lay a foundation for sustainable growth that won't crumble under the weight of tomorrow's challenges.
Then, we shift gears to dissect the sloth and greed that infect business practices, leading to a culture where profit trumps ethics. We'll discuss the stark disparities in wealth distribution within companies and how this is contributing to a sustainability crisis in entrepreneurship. As we examine the pitfalls of complacency and the illusion of effortless success, Nicole imparts invaluable wisdom on fostering a proactive work ethic and embracing change. This episode is a crucial compass for anyone seeking to build a business that not only thrives today but also enriches the lives of its stakeholders and withstands the test of time. Join us for an invigorating session that promises to fortify your entrepreneurial journey with integrity and foresight.
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Hank:
Welcome to the Home Business Success Show. Join us as we speak to home business entrepreneurs for tips, tricks, do's and even don'ts for running a successful home business. Welcome everyone, I'm Hank Eder, also known as Hank the PR Guy, and this is the Home Business Success Show on bizradious. All entrepreneurs all the time. This is part two of an interview with our guest, nicole Magic, and, if you missed last week's show, nicole brings a wealth of knowledge to the table. She's an accomplished leadership and empowerment strategist and she's honed her craft to create a life-changing program, the Alchemy of Transformation, which is all about awakening your true potential, erasing limited beliefs and guiding you towards a life of fulfillment without compromise. Welcome back to the show, nicole.
Nicole:
Thanks, hank, it's great to be back.
Hank:
We were talking about seven deadly beliefs that really can put the kibosh as we used to say in the Bronx on your business, and we had covered four of them. If you missed the first show, you could go back to the podcasts and you could go to hanketercom and look under Etcetera and find the Home Business Success Show. You'll find last week's show there. That being said, let's get into. We did the first four, so we have to get into number five now.
Nicole:
Right, we talked about pride, greed, wrath, envy, and now it's time to talk about lust.
Hank:
Oh, everybody's favorite.
Nicole:
So lust in business is the belief in immediate gratification, okay, so the belief that I have to satisfy my desires instantly, regardless of the consequences. So this originates from impulsivity and the pursuit of pleasure, right? So we want that instant gratification. So the behaviors associated with that are prioritizing short-term gains over the long-term sustainability, prioritizing short-term gains over the long-term sustainability. And time and time again I see businesses and clients just flopping like fishes around the outside of the water because they're going for what's quick and what's easy, instant gratification and pursuing the quick fixes and shortcuts other than sustainable strategies or sustainable solutions. They compromise integrity a lot of times for those instant rewards. And it's sad to say that I've seen this happen in construction, real estate, advising type positions, and you know I've even had to fire someone from chemistry for doing this type of behavior. So the cognitive distortion is rationalizing unethical behavior and minimizing long-term repercussions for that short-term gain long-term repercussions for that short-term gain.
Hank:
Well, it sounds like something that comes to us from childhood that we never got rid of, because, you know, the children until they reach a certain age are all about ego and instant gratification. You know they want what they want and they want it now.
Nicole:
Right yeah, veruca Salt. I want an everlasting gobstopper and I want one now. So the debunking question that we want to ask is howas that you were talking about it's? You know, feeling like you haven't gotten what you, what you wanted. So I have to take it right. I just have to take it and I'm going to do it as quick and easy as possible. So you know that could look like flipping a house for so much less than what the house is worth. So you're not doing a service to the owners of the house. You're actually just trying to put money in your pocket really fast because you can get a quick sale for much less, instead of taking the time to do the things necessary to get what the value is for your clients.
Nicole:
In financial advising, a lot of, you know, on the verge of churning. Basically you know transactional things. If you're doing transactional tickets, you're not doing things for a long-term sustainability for your business. So you're kind of using your clients in a way to just do transactions, just to make you money, because you need to keep doing that, because you haven't done the work to be sustainable. So actions that you can take are implementing different decision-making frameworks, prioritizing long-term impact instead and taking the prioritization of integrity and ethical conduct.
Hank:
I see that I had an investment broker at least 35 years ago that that was their modus operandi. They said they wanted to get in and out of trades as much as possible because they were picking up a commission for all of those trades and when I put that together I had just had to let them go. Yeah, you know, maybe we made some money here and there with their trades, but it was being eaten up by their you know, by their commission. So what was really the point of doing that?
Nicole:
Yeah, commission. So what was really the point of doing that? Yeah, when I was in finance, I saw a lot of different things and I was actually ridiculed by some people because, you know, what I was focused on was a waste of time, a waste of money. It was stupid. I talked to my clients about stupid things, but I talked to my clients about things that they loved, so I could understand what they really wanted and what they wanted to experience in their retirement, which actually boosted me in my business because I cared and I wasn't going to do things that were unethical or just quick or you know, just get the information and do the thing and make a buck. I wanted to do what was right for my people and that's why I actually left finance to do what I do now, so I can educate people and bring them into that space, so they have that understanding for themselves.
Hank:
Well, very cool. One thing I do want to bring up about lust, and I think a lot of people play into this every day. We see it on social media. If you only do this one funnel, you could become a millionaire In six weeks. You'll quadruple or quintuple your income with this one funnel, or this one system, or we have this, this, the magic way of, of making you a millionaire beyond all of your wildest dreams. But there really are no shortcuts. There are no get rich quick schemes and funnels, although cleverly not cleverly, but a well-designed funnel that's, that's honest about what it's delivering can really it can bring clients to people. But if I would like to say to my listeners, if you're considering something that's going to get you overnight success or make you a millionaire, you know, in six months, don't spend your money on it. Run screaming into the night and go back to doing the work that it takes to get yourself ahead.
Nicole:
Absolutely. Thank you, hank, for that, because that was the thing that the get rich quick schemes. And who wants to be tossed into a funnel? If you're just a marble, that goes and it gets thrown into a funnel with a whole bunch of other marbles. Just imagine what that feels like instead of being taken through a client journey, right.
Hank:
Correct, very true. So now we're on number six, right.
Nicole:
Yes, we are Six. We're going to talk about gluttony, the belief in excessive consumption. So in a business context, gluttony can manifest as excessive or the greedy pursuit of growth profits. When you're looking at resources at the cost of ethical considerations, when you're disregarding the sustainability or the well-being of employees, which also includes customers and the community too, not just your employees. But there's the belief that more is better. Excess is a sign of success, and that is not the case at all. So when we look at infinite, growth and maximizing profit are the primary indicators of success, regardless of the long-term consequences on resources, relationships, reputation.
Nicole:
That is the mindset, that is the belief that people hold, that you know we've got to just consume. Consume, more is better, more is better and that's not the case either and the focus of what they truly need. They'll hire a bunch of people and then they'll sit them there because they don't know what to do with them, but they knew that they needed to hire these people. So it's rooted in the pursuit of pleasure and indulgence, lack of self-control and a sign of moral weakness or failure in one regard, but it's partially, in the sense of there's no clarity or focus around what you really want and how to strategically roll it out, because gluttony has that, aside from being greedy and hoarding, in a certain way, it also adds in. Gluttony has that little added boost of using people, the integrity lacking. Integrity that's the word that I was looking for.
Nicole:
Disintegrative behaviors where, let's say, it might have over exploitation, the business might over exploit natural resources, um, they might have unethical labor practices, they just to minimize costs. So again it's, there's the sense of capturing the, the profits, but cutting those corners right, minimizing the, the cost. And it's there's the sense of capturing the, the profits, but cutting those corners right, minimizing the, the cost. And it's usually at an expense that is much greater than shifting into something that would be helpful to the people or the environment. So aggressive marketing strategies that mislead customers, so misleading customers for short-term gains. So, if you think about it, companies that use fraud and all these like undermining behaviors to get short-term financial results at the expense of long-term viability.
Hank:
Right. Maybe some of them just want to get right in and get right out. I don't know, but that goes back to the get-rich-quick schemes. And it's interesting, though, that people who are in positions of power like that and have already amassed large amounts of wealth find opportunities to do that again and again, and again, and, as you say, it doesn't really matter who they're stepping over to get there, but they'll keep doing it.
Nicole:
Yeah, and you can even see. I can think of several examples of different business owners who they're living saying hi on the hog and their employees. They're not giving their employees incentives or bonuses or even accolades for achieving what they you know tight timelines and different things. They're just being treated in ways in which that are actually kind of demeaning. You know you're a business owner and you're living lavishly and going off and touting around, that you're going to hang out at this hotel and all this luxury opulence and you say, hey, here's like a $10 gift card to Dunkin' Donuts for your Christmas bonus, ooh, yay. Or you know even $50 card to here or there and it just there's not. And then riding those people to like do more, do more, do more, and not praising them for the accomplishments that they have done. So thinking about that, it's like this like more, more, more. I need more, more, more from you. And I'm just going to take, take, take.
Nicole:
Even in science, in corporate America, we had shorter timelines. We had people that were leaving because they just couldn't handle it anymore. So the people that were left, we expect more from you. We'll put you up in hotels so you can work longer hours, sleep up here, so you don't have to drive an hour or an hour and a half home and you can get up earlier and get here faster and do more work. So when eight hour days turn into 10 hour days, turn into 12 hours, 14 hours, 16-hour days, something is wrong. So we want to reframe this into long-term success and sustainability for your customers, your clients, all of the people that are involved, so integrating sustainable principles and integrative ethical behaviors and practices throughout a business.
Hank:
Very, very cool. You know it's for all the stakeholders. Then I think this brings us to number seven.
Nicole:
It does. So let's talk about sloth, and this is the biggest, I think, that I encounter as super deadly behavior and practice that I think rips through most of businesses in one way or another, especially entrepreneurism. Sloth is the belief in passive complacency, where the belief that effort is futile and success should come effortlessly. And it's not that it comes effortlessly. It can come easily, but not effortlessly. You've got to take action to make a change. So success in business should naturally flow without significant effort, is what they think. But if one has to strive too hard, it might not be worth pursuing.
Nicole:
So these are the people that I find have a very low tolerance for frustration. As soon as they come up against a difficulty, a challenge, an obstacle, they're like yeah, I'm out, like Barbara Corcoran, I'm out, I'm out of here. So when we look at that whole situation of what that looks like, it stems from apathy, it stems from a fear of failure. So people get overwhelmed and what do they do? Nothing. So the belief often stems from a mix of some kind of entitlement, a fear of failure, exposure to stories that they believe in at some point, that they see these overnight success stories that we all know are not overnight. They seem like overnight. But all the stuff that brought that person to that success was not overnight and there was a lot of toiling and effort that was put in and learning from mistakes.
Nicole:
So the cognitive distortion is known as overgeneralization. In that regards, where you know they think things happen overnight without visible struggle Right, or take a single example and assume that it is assigned broadly, you know that it's very rare that somebody would have this overnight sensation happening to them. Another cognitive dissonance is the magical thinking that expecting outcomes without any kind of grounded efforts. So you've got to put something in to get something out. So the behaviors associated with that belief are procrastination. So all of you out there that are, you know, feel like you procrastinate. There's a lot of different reasons for procrastination, but procrastination avoiding challenging tasks, lack of persistence in the face of obstacles A lot of times people say, oh, I've lost my purpose, I feel no motivation. That is this and there's nothing wrong with you. We've just got to figure out what is it that you believe in that's keeping you there.
Hank:
So procrastination, avoiding challenges, resisting change and that's all part of sloth.
Nicole:
It's all part of sloth so how does passivity impede your progress instead?
Hank:
It definitely, definitely, would you know before. I want to ask you a few more questions, and these things gave me a lot to think about, and I hope that our audience is going to have a lot to think about too. For these seven deadly business sins who say, well, I want to quit my job and become an entrepreneur because I'll be able to work a lot less hours and have a lot more fun. And well, maybe they will have fun because, especially if they're following their passion but to become a successful business, they're not going to work less hours. In fact, they'll probably end up working more hours. But that being said, let me ask you a couple questions while we've still got a few minutes. You help entrepreneurs who are looking to attain success. Just give me a few examples of what you do for entrepreneurs.
Nicole:
Well, I'll help them overcome all the beliefs that are holding them in self-sabotaging ways, a lot of the things that we discussed here today. It's a matter of just uncovering what that is. So I help them bring that awareness. We help identify what that is. We erase the limiting belief, we install new beliefs that actually support their success and, through the process, I'm helping them do the things that they know that they need to do. Like, if it's a growing business that needs to redefine their avatar, I'll help them do that stuff.
Nicole:
But I'm not necessarily focused 100% on teaching them how to write what their avatar is. I will guide them so they get that properly. But what I'm teaching them how to write what their avatar is, I will guide them so they get that properly. But what I'm looking for is where are they getting stuck? What are they having issues with? So, for instance, a lot of people say well, they have trouble honing in on that avatar. And why is that? Because they're afraid to hone in and be very specific to one person, because they have scarcity mindset and they're afraid that they're not going to get the business that they want.
Hank:
Oh, so they think they have to reach everyone instead of going out and reaching their niche. You know, it's amazing that we're almost out of time here. If you could, without getting too deep, tell me just a little bit about your alchemy of transformation.
Nicole:
The alchemy of transformation has taken NLP, neuro-linguistic programming, cognitive behavioral therapy, a lot of energetic work that I've done metaphysics, my world life experiences, my background in biology, chemistry, finance and pulls it all together so that I can reach people at very deep levels and it just is like a conversation. So it's very, very easy and it feels effortless when we're doing the work.
Hank:
Well, that's awesome. The best work is the work that will feel effortless Awesome. The best work is the work that will feel effortless. Where can people find you and how can they connect if they'd like to work with you?
Nicole:
You can find me all over social media, but my website is magic spelled. My last name M-A-J-I-K. Magicllccom. You can also find me at nicolemagiccom for my marketplace and programs as well, as you can book a quick call with me at NicoleMagicasme.
Hank:
Well, Nicole, thank you. Thank you so much for being here with us today and for sharing these gems for our listeners.
Nicole:
Oh, my total pleasure. This is so much fun for me.
Hank:
And for our listeners. If you missed part one, be sure to go back and check that out. And you're listening to the Home Business Success Show here on bizradious. I just want to remind you that you can have a successful and profitable home-based business. I've done it, nicole has done it, and you can, too, tune in next Wednesday and every Wednesday for the Home Business Success Show. This is Hank Eder, wishing all of you a fabulous day of home business success.
