The easy-to-miss winning formula
Standing in the blazing 2.45pm sunshine waiting for my kids to burst out of their classroom, I felt my anger ebb away at last.
An acquaintance, Sam, stood nearby and I told him my tale of woe.
After a long drive I’d been STARVING and needed a sandwich urgently before school pick up.
But everywhere local was shut.
By that stage I was Hangry (so hungry I’m angry) and I’d bought crusty, hard-to-eat-on-the-go, french bread and a chunk of cheese from the grocery store.
I was standing there covered in crumbs. But goodbye Hangries.
‘Why do you think everyone shuts so early?’ I said to Sam, exasperated.
He paused for a moment, and then he said with conviction:
‘Lack of commitment’.
Sam’s an unassuming guy.
He talks quietly.
It would be easy to miss him.
His statement reminded me, with a start, that thriving entrepreneurs come in all personality types… but they do tend to think a certain way.
Because as well as being quiet and unassuming, he’s also a very successful creator of wildly popular restaurants. Which he sells and then goes on to set up another. He’s a hard worker.
He went on to explain that for his next project he knows evenings will go great for dinner guests, and that lunches will be ok.
But they are going to open for breakfast too and he fully expects it to take 2 years before that really catches on and gets exciting.
Without ego or judgment, as though just stating a fact, he told me: ‘people just won’t do the hard yards’.
The children burst out of their class.
We braced ourselves for the hugs and the bags and the news.
As he got ready to bear-hug his daughter, Sam gave me a cheeky smile and added quietly, ‘Which is all the better for me.’
So Networker, where can you apply this attitude in your life and business?
Where can you get willing to do the stuff other people find too hard to sustain, and then actually enjoy doing it?
Tell me in the comments, or email me directly: [email protected] – I love hearing from you.
See you on the road,
Helen
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Manda
I find it fascinating that people who know Im starting a business assume that because it hasnt happened after 6 months Ive given up! What? Ive been working for over 18months on this project and I WILL succeed. I catch myself wondering if they are quitters when they say things like that to me. My mind always judges them on their comments. Not me. I know what Im doing and how its going. Thats all that matters really. And I will get there. Thank you for your insight Helen xx
Helen
Hey Manda, thanks for your comment – I totally know what you mean. I think there’s a BIG disconnect for the majority of people around what it actually takes to succeed. At anything. We’ve got that instant culture thing going on. Massive life changes happen in a 30 second montage set to music in movies (Rocky becomes world champion fit, complex skills are learned, ingenious weaponry is built, careers are forged… all in these 30 second montages!. My family comments on it now when we’re watching a movie and it happens!) That’s why I wrote The Networker – because people wrestle mentally with ‘the struggle’ – but that struggle is part of ANY great endeavour. Embracing the process, accepting and enjoying it…taking panic and uncertainty out of the equation – leaves us free to get on with the job in hand and actually give it our best effort.