Permission to Succeed

When given the option between success and failure, you would assume no one would pick failure. Kind of like Eddie Izzard's bit about cake or death as part of the Inquisition:

"Cake or death?"

"Err, cake, please."

"Very well, give him cake."

(Continues two more times.)

"Cake or death?"

"Cake, please."

"Well we're out of cake! We only had three bits and we didn't expect such a rush."

"So my choice is 'or death'??"

Good news is success never runs out as an option. And yet people select failure all the time. They don't realize it, though, until it's too late. The failure they pick is not through lack of awareness, but rather failure to act on signals they receive...or they just go into denial.

Everyone believes they are agile but only find out for sure when they are tested by a real disruption or discontinuity. When Helene hit Asheville a year ago (!!) I verified that I was personally agile but learned about a blindspot I had. I started preparing two full days before the storm and was able to pivot to stretch my resources further when it was going to be more than the 3-4 days I envisioned without power and water. What I didn't expect was how much my adrenaline running on high for days in survival mode would impact my mental ability to do work once I had access to power/internet/cell service again (water came later).

The big difference between what I did and what I'm talking about regarding failure is I put in the work to prepare in advance. I was mission success at the start and was able to be agile in the moment as conditions changed. I also learned what limitations I had in the worst possible case. I was tested and it was a success. It wasn't perfection, but a win is a win.

So what capabilities must be in place to win?

Being prepared. Full stop. The only way you can prepare your business for an interruption is doing the work in advance so you are ready before it happens. It is through doing a business continuity plan that you are selecting "success" as an option. "Or failure" is electing to do nothing out of denial ("It's not gonna happen") or hubris ("I've got this" without having done anything). It's not money: the cost of inaction is infinitely higher (lost time, lost customers, lost standing in the marketplace, lost money, higher expenses, laying off employees, bleeding money, dead business). You can't afford to NOT invest.

Former Navy SEAL David Goggins commands 6-figures per engagement to speak about success to business people. His book Never Finished talks about how he controls everything he possibly can to make sure he is successful in his endeavors. Everything. And if he fails, HE did not fail - it was a circumstance beyond his control so there was no way he could succeed. David Goggins never chooses failure.

Unlock the full potential of your business when you take the steps to put yourself in the best position possible to succeed. It's not marketing that will save you, believe me (I've seen how an over-emphasis on marketing left many small business owners in ruin after Helene).

I'm giving you permission to succeed. You're not only allowed to, you deserve it.