When Success is Against All Odds!

You are this year what you prepared and trained for in previous years.

“We don’t rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training.”

Archilochus

Think of where you were last year, the year before or even 5 years ago. Are you where you wanted to be by this time?

Given the unusual situation that has prevailed in the last 18 months, it’s not surprising that most of us will answer; “are you mad? Of course not, I’m in a completely different situation than I intended, or expected”.

It’s also unsurprising that many of us feel that it’s not our fault, that we had no control of the situation or outcome and can be forgiven for not knowing what to do now.

Well, here’s the point, whatever plans we had and whatever position we’re in now, we need to learn from the past and prepare for the future!

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

Wise words, but how can anyone plan for such an all-encompassing event as a worldwide pandemic, you may ask?

It’s a fair point, and maybe Disraeli had the answer with this well-used quote? “Prepare for the best and plan for the worst”. A quote further expanded by civil rights activist, Maya Angelou, with the additional; “ And be unsurprised by anything in between.”

This would suggest the ultimate plan would cover every possibility, old or new, likely or unlikely, even usual or unusual. It also lays the responsibility for any outcome fairly with each of us. Which, of course, is where it belongs.

Look, let’s be honest here? Perhaps we have the best ever reason or excuse why things have gone wrong, why we have problems we never expected, couldn’t foresee and couldn’t avoid? But, at least one thing is for certain, reasons and excuses don’t pay the mortgage and don’t earn interest at the bank.

The best ever, most genuine reason for failure, will never set us up for future success, unless we own it, and learn from it!

Oh, and just in case you're wondering, neither will relying on luck!

“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”

Maya Angelou

One of my clients told me the pandemic taught her some things are simply outside the scope of any plan she could make. So I asked her if she is going to stop making plans. “No”, she said, “but I can’t plan for such world events as a pandemic, can I?”

 Ok, so back to Disraeli. Think of what could go wrong, and then take it to infinite degrees!

Perhaps we can’t plan for a pandemic, but we certainly can make a plan for being prevented from working or trading for an extended period. In other words, it doesn’t take a world event to create a major barrier to normality, it could be something nearer to home, couldn’t it?

Like: “What happens if I am prevented from creating income by events outside my control for one entire year?”

Perhaps one answer is to create a ‘disaster fund’, one that will last for a year, or more. When times are good, do we still save for a rainy day, or do we relax and become complacent? Do we continually commit a percentage of our profits to our fund, regardless of how much we are making?

Rainy days happen all the time. This was just a bigger storm than most!

Of course, some of us will convince ourselves this ‘once in a lifetime’ type of event cannot be planned for and simply carry on the same as before, hoping such a thing can’t happen again.

But guess what? Unless we make that all-inclusive, come what may plan, next time something comes along, the pain will be just as bad!

Bent, not broken, Down, not out

The person you will be in 5 years, depends on what you feed your mind today.

If you’re the kind of person that learns from what life throws at you, take responsibility for outcomes, and rise to a challenge, however mountainous, you will be stronger and more prepared than you are today.

As Nelson Mandela said, “ I never lose, either I win, or I learn!”

Don’t forget, you can get my coaching help with Sales Leadership challenges with a FREE discovery call here; Call Will Free (subject to availability). (Be sure to ask about my subscriber discounts.) 

 Got any feedback or comments, I’d love to hear them. You can drop me a line;  [email protected].  

 If you like reading about communication and people skills, catch my Medium.com publication; Youmeus