What Kind of Green Are You? Time to Pinch Yourself

What Kind of Green Are You? Time to Pinch YourselfSo when you think about the word “green” what do you immediately think of?

Ideally we want to all be the “growing” green, but to be in growth mode you need to leverage and consider each meaning of green.

Let’s explore how others use the word green, what it can mean and symbolize in your life and business.

5 References to Green

  1. Money“I need some green” or greenbacks
  2. Go – could mean go somewhere, move forward or get out of my way
  3. Growing – like trees grow when they are green, they are experiencing growth
  4. Greed – love of money, possessions, will sacrifice self or others to satisfy the need
  5. Sick“I am feeling green” meaning under the weather, not quite like themselves

Did that make you think about green in a new way? Now think about your business, the clients you serve or the company you work for and how green is important to each of those.

Ideally we want to all be the “growing” green, but to be in growth mode you need to leverage and consider each meaning of green.

Why We Need Green For Success

The fact is that we all need to make money (greenbacks). This is what we use to pay for our cool gadgets, homes, cars, food, and more.

For a business making green is how they grow, hire new employees, develop new products and market their business to new customers.

Often times for businesses to succeed we have to go. Where do we go? To industry events, networking groups, conferences and other places where we can meet new prospective clients and expand our knowledge. For a business to grow you need to make green and going is how you get there.

Moving forward is another type of “go”. This is the direction we as individuals and businesses want to always be going. Have you ever heard someone say, “I want to move backwards?” In order to move forward, you need money to learn and market, and you / your businesses will experience moments of “feeling green”. Without moments of feeling green you will not learn how to be better and do things differently.

Another meaning of “go” – get out of the way could be another business or individual telling you to get out of their way, so they can move forward.

I want to explore you getting out of your own way. Often times, as individuals self-doubt holds us back from moving forward. We are afraid to ask for what we want, like more money or a new job, taking that risk or just saying yes to something new or different.

By now, I am sure you have noticed a theme, that each use of green is tied to the other one.

The only green reference I haven’t mentioned yet is greed. You are probably thinking I haven’t mentioned it because greed is such a bad word. The meaning has such a negative conation.

There are two uses of greed that I am going to explore.

Let’s first talk about the love of money or possessions. This is when a person or entity values money and property more than anything else. They will forego health, safety and morals to make green to satisfy their greed. They don’t think of feelings or repercussions, only green.

There is a type of greed you need to leverage to move forward successfully in life or business. You need to be greedy with your time, knowledge and body.

I am going to use myself as an example. I love people and want to help all of them (btw…I love money too). My first instinct is to say yes to every request asked of me, but the fact is that I have to be greedy with my time so I have time to do things I need to move forward successfully.

If I say yes to every request I would spend all my days and nights doing favors for others. I wouldn’t have time to make any green, which helps me to move forward, go out and grow. I am a people person and without these things it would make me feel green.

If I am not greedy about my time, I wouldn’t have the time I need to take care of my physical and mental health, which includes sleeping, taking a digital break, having fun, going out to dinner with friends or writing a blog post like this that helps me as much as you, the reader.

I want to close with this question…

So I ask you today, on St. Patrick’s Day – the “green day”Is it time to pinch yourself back into reality?

Don’t feel green – do something different today, so you can go make some green instead!

Fun fact about me: Green is my favorite color. This must be why.