Last weekend, Chris and Tristan were doing their usual father-son yardwork and I had an “Ah-ha!” moment…
Specifically, while Tristan was making that first cut along the curb with the mower, Chris told him “You’re not as close as you think! Don’t worry, you’re not going over the edge!” THAT got me thinking: what a perfect example for 90% of all small businesses.
YOU aren’t as close to the edge as you think, either.
The things that you’re worried about? They’re not going to come true, or even manifest into a real challenge – they’re simply occupying space in your mind and causing you to lose sleep. On the other hand, when you decide to grab your business by the horns and really go “all in,” you know what? You are going to get closer to the edge … and to real success.
Demanding more of current clients, demanding better prospects, demanding higher quality from your teams.
You’ll lose some folks – go “over the edge’ with them, and the end result?
You’re going to have dramatically better results.
Now, I didn’t think of this, the idea has been around for thousands of years. Even Sun Tzu, in his seminal Art of War, spoke of fighting on deadly ground; where the chances for survival are low, an army will fight far harder than on ground that allowed an easy retreat. The army that fights their battle on deadly ground wins more than it loses, because those in the fight know the only options are victory or death.
Or, to use a meme I saw recently, “Fight like you’re the third monkey on Noah’s Ark and it just started to rain.”
As an entrepreneur and business owner, are you doing that?
Are you “all in” on your commitment to your business? To the Great Result you’re here to provide to your most important clients?
Or did you build in a safety net?
Moonlighting at the firm you left to open your own business, or continuously pulling money from your IRA, or depending on a part-time gig to pay the bills?
Not to get all “Zen” on you, but to all of those who are “trying” to do something, just stop it. Do it or don’t do it, because “trying” is a misnomer. To “try” to do something is to take no action towards it.
You’re either losing weight or you’re not.
You’re making money or you’re not.
You’re closing sales or you’re not.
You’re serving clients or you’re not.
There is no such thing as “trying…”
Or, to look at it another way, let’s imagine the “edge” is the success you’re striving for.
That first $100K.
That first half million.
That first million.
Eight figures.
Whatever.
It’s the edge, and you’re not close to it, because you’re not all in. You’ve not committed to truly marketing your business, or honing your business skills, or to learning how to effectively train your team, or to the art of sales.
If this is resonating with you, then maybe we should have a conversation. Let me tell you about my own “edge” story, let me share with you what happened when I chose to go over it, let me tell you about how radically my life and business changed when my level of commitment was 10X’d.