One Phrase That Can Crush, Motivate, and Free Your Business

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If I told you that “nobody cares” about your business how would you react? What’s the feeling you get in your gut when you hear that?

When we hear “nobody cares” we’re inclined to first interpret it as a reflection on ourselves:

• My idea is terrible
• I’ll never succeed
• I’m not cut out for this work
• I could never do what (fill in the name of your favorite success story) did

As it turns out, that reflex to first look inward is the perfect demonstration of what “nobody cares” is all about.

It’s about the fact that we’re all obsessed with ourselves.

That’s not a judgement statement, but rather an evolutionary fact. We’re wired to maintain our own survival. As a result, we spend a vast majority of our time thinking, talking, and of course posting on social media, about ourselves.

So, when we say “nobody cares” about your business it’s not about you, your idea, or your ability. It’s that nobody cares because everyone is feverishly consumed with themselves.

In turn, it creates an interesting paradox:

Because we’re obsessed with ourselves we expect everyone else to care about what we’re doing. Meanwhile, nobody else has time for you because they’re also obsessed with themselves.

 

Crush

That’s the “crush” perspective of “nobody cares”. The lonely feeling that the world isn’t interested in you. That nobody can see all the amazing things you’re working on.

This is when you need to embrace the fact that “nobody cares” has almost nothing to do with you. “Nobody cares” is about other people’s focus on themselves.

By recognizing that and embracing it you can unlock some powerful positive actions.

Motivation

There’s an idea that in order for someone to adopt a new product or service it needs to be “10x” better than whatever solution they currently use. For someone to switch you can’t just be better than the competition, you have to get someone to change an existing behavior.

As we all know, people tend to dislike change.

But “nobody cares” speaks to another layer even before adoption. If everyone spends most of their time focused on their own stuff, what does it take to get their attention in the first place? This isn’t about the noise of the competition, this is about the noise within your customer’s own head.

The quality and frequency of your interactions with customers, also has to be “10x” higher just to get their attention.

How aware are your customers of what you do? What channels are you using to reach them? Are you putting out little messages here and there hoping and wishing they’ll take notice? Or are you grabbing them by the shoulders and shaking them?

But that’s the bar we’re all up against.

If you’re not making the effort to shake your customers by the shoulders how can expect them to pay attention?

That’s the motivation of “nobody cares”. If your results aren’t strong enough, ask yourself if you’re doing enough.

It’s easy to overestimate the impact we make because everything we do requires so much effort. But are you doing enough to overcome the bar of “nobody cares”? Are you shaking your customers by the shoulders?

Before you decide your idea isn’t strong enough or that people aren’t interested, take a hard look at what you’re doing to get their attention.

There’s a decent chance you’ll need to do about “10x” more than you think to make a real impact.

Freedom

The other benefit of “nobody cares” is the freedom it provides in everything you try.

One of the biggest blockers we have when sharing our work is the fear of what others will think.

• Will they like my product or service?
• Will they understand my message?
• Will they hate the new feature we introduced?
• Will they read/watch/listen to the content I put out?
• Will they get annoyed if I email again?
• Will they think I’m desperate?
• Will they think I’m a fraud?

Once you accept that “nobody cares”, it frees you from that anxiety and allows you to make progress.

“Nobody cares” means you can waste less time wringing your hands and wondering, and get on with doing stuff.

“Nobody cares” doesn’t mean the work you put out goes into a void never to be seen by human eyes. It means, nobody is sitting on the edge of their seat waiting for your next move so that they can dissect it.

If someone sees what you did and responds to it, that’s great. Even if they don’t like your product, article, podcast, etc. at least you have a piece of feedback that can inform your next move.

And the cool thing is, if someone wasn’t ecstatic about the last thing you did, it doesn’t mean they won’t like the next thing. Because people are so absorbed in their own lives, it’s easy for them to forget and move on.

Your audience isn’t obsessing over your successes and mistakes the way you are. They’re obsessing over their own successes and mistakes.

When you embrace “nobody cares” you can enjoy a level of freedom with what you’re willing to try. You can spend less time wondering and more time doing.

It’s Not You, It’s All of Us

The big takeaway here is to remember that you, your customers, and everyone are all focused on themselves first. It’s not a judgement and it doesn’t mean we’re all terrible people. It’s just how we’re built.

But if you embrace that idea, and remove the emotions it can churn up inside, it can provide the motivation and freedom you need to make your business successful.