I recently finished watching Season 1 of True Blood. While I can see why it’s not for everyone, I myself enjoy a good vampire romp, especially when it’s populated by such a nice selection of hot-looking actors (who have no issues showing off their equally hot bodies).
Anyway, it got me thinking about all the vampire stories out there. Vampire legends have been around for centuries and in nearly every society. Vampire movies, shows, books, etc. continually pop up on a frequent basis.
So why all the fuss? What is it about vampires that just won’t die (pun intended)?
Well, I’ve come up with 2 theories:
1. There REALLY are real-life, blood sucking, undead vampires roaming about.
2. There REALLY are vampires roaming about, but they’re HUMAN vampires, sucking the energy, money, health, time and more out of other people. And these vampire stories are actually a combination of cautionary tales (evil vampires we need to kill) and a way to transform and tame our “inner vampire” to something loving and human (the vampire love stories).
For my part, I’ll put my money on number 2. Which leads me to how this can help your business.
Vampires are everywhere. I don’t think it was a coincidence I finish watching True Blood and discover one of my friends and clients was scammed. Con artists and scammers are just another sort of human vampire — typically they’re charming and attractive in some way to their victims (for instance, they’re offering something attractive) then suck them dry of money, energy, time or more.
The thing about vampires is they’re hard to spot. (Vampires look human and in many cases they’re beautiful.) This is why a lot of times you’ll let a vampire in, not knowing it’s a vampire until after you’ve been bit.
Here are some signs of common vampires that can be sucking the life right out of your business:
1. Are there tasks you do in your business that drain you? Typically these are tasks you don’t like doing and you’re probably not much good at them either. Yep, you’re looking at a vampire. The good news is these vampires are selective in who they bite. (Or maybe these would fall into those vampire love stories — one person’s dream vampire love is another person’s worst nightmare.)
Solution — do a bit of vampire matchmaking and outsource, find the people who love those tasks and let them take over.
2. Are there people who drain you? Maybe they’re a vendor or a client you really have trouble working with. They suck up a lot of your time and energy (and maybe even money) and you’re always exhausted after your encounters.
Well, this could be 1 of 2 things — either you have a real human vampire on your hands who makes a habit of sucking the life force out of everyone they meet, or this is like a task vampire. They don’t do it to everyone, in fact they probably don’t even want to be a vampire, but some people bring out the worst in them.
Solution — it’s the same, these people are toxic to you for whatever reason and it really doesn’t matter if they’re toxic to everyone or just to you, you still need to remove them from your life.
From time to time it’s always a good idea to scan your business and your life for any vampires, and if you find any, to send them on their way. Remember, vampires are seductive, so unless you’re looking for them you just might miss them.