Thursday night is football night.
Last week I was playing centre-back at one point – and the opposition got a free kick. I was touch-tight to Steve – the man I was marking – and slightly goalside of him so I could see him and the ball.
All good so far eh?
The free came in – perfectly floated in between me and my goalie. “The goalie’s got that covered” I said to myself – while Steve made his move – gliding in front of me towards the goal and giving the ball a deft touch to steer it past the goalie into the net.
You could argue that the goalie should have come out from the goal to collect it. But the main problem was me – all I needed to do was to move to stay between Steve and the goal. The goal was my fault.
When we play, we just make up two teams on the night from among whoever turns up. so the teams are typically random. A few years ago there was a succession of 6 or 7 weeks when I lost. It could be argued that it was a statistical oddity – like a coin coming up heads 6 or 7 times in a row. But the more probable explanation was me playing crap.
Can you guess where I’m going with this?
I’m surveying hundreds of small business owners at the moment – and one of the questions is about how Covid has affected their business. One owner answered: “Waiting for the country to open up again so that I can resume my business“.
Waiting.
Ceding control of his business to the outside world.
Apportioning the blame for his stagnation to the macroeconomic environment.
Failing to take personal responsibility for his business success.
You are responsible for the success of your business.
I wrote a short ebook earlier this year. The title begins:
“Get Off The Hamster Wheel: The Smart Small Business Owner’s Productivity Bible“
But it’s the next bit of the title I want to draw your attention to: “How to calmly achieve more, despite overwhelming demands on your time, a competitive marketplace, and a tough economy“.
Have you overwhelming demands on your time?
Is your marketplace competitive?
Is the economy you’re operating in tough?
Yes, yes & yes.
So be it. There is still lots you can do. But it begins with you taking responsibility.
One section of the ebook talks a bit about Jim Gavin, the great Dublin football manager. Here’s the relevant extract:
“He paid zero attention to luck. Instead, he concentrated on what he could do. He took responsibility. He focussed on what was within his control. He prepared. He made his choices.“
Do you want to be like Jim? The ebook’s a short read – less than 3500 words and readable in 10 minutes or so. To get it you’ve two choices:
Get it on Amazon here or go here to join my mailing list and you’ll get a pdf version of it.