Painkillers and Vitamins

I’m a fan of B-12.

My body finally made me quit, but once upon a time I was a hockey player.

It’s no secret that adult hockey players reliving the glory days get the worst ice time. Often our “beer league” team would have a 10:45pm puck drop time on a Tuesday night.

Coming from a guy who’s usually well into REM sleep by that time of night, it was often a tricky balance to be awake and alert for a game that comes at you really fast. Which is also a pretty violent game in which a split second mistake can be really costly. I’ve had concussions, broken bones, a bleeding lung (which they tell me is really not good for you), all from mental errors.

But I noticed a big change in my play when I started taking B-12 vitamin before the game.

I started to see the game develop more slowly.

I was making faster plays with my mind, my feet, and my hands.

In fact, I was playing the best hockey of my life in my late 30’s.

(not that I was ever that good in my youth)

But here’s the thing… even though B-12 improved my game, and even though I now take it daily first thing in the morning, it’s still not in the “essential” category of purchases. If I stopped today, I would lose a slight mental edge. But I would be ok.

Compare that to when I was traveling and had a headache that wouldn’t quit, with a migraine rearing its ugly head on the horizon.

I gladly overpaid the $3 for two measly Tylenol pills in order to save my afternoon from disaster.

I would never pay $3 for two B-12 vitamins.

Business is about solving problems

There’s a big difference between painkillers and vitamins.

If you’re not quickly solving a prominent pain in your customer’s life, business is going to be tough.

You want to be in the painkiller business.

Even if you’re in the painkiller business, if the customer doesn’t know or believe that you can alleviate their pain quickly, business will be tough.

So be sure to know your customer well, understand their pains, and make sure that you can offer a solution.

This is from Profit Hiker: 11 Trails to gain lasting elevation in your business. Find the book right here and the program over there.