Sometimes it’s hard

I swim in cold water.

In winter, our pool gets cold. It gets almost no sun in the day, and the winter wind and rains just keeps draining every bit of heat energy from it, day after day – the kind of cold that when you stick your hand in it, it is physically painful.

Every two or three days, I swim in this pool first thing in the morning.

Before sunrise.

Getting into that water is incredibly hard. Staying in is hard.

When I get out, I feel insanely alive. I'm not sure if it is because it is actually good for me or just some form of delirium. But it's addictively good.

Small things become big obstacles

If I forget to take the pool cleaner and its pipe out the previous day, so that the pipe is still in the pool, that one little extra bother when I am swimming makes it harder to stay in the water. If I take it out in the morning before I get in, there is a significant risk that I will have convinced myself to not get in, by the time I've removed the pipe.

However, if everything is ready, I just get up, go to the pool, get in, and swim. I do not give myself any time to think about it.

Reason Five is about hard things

In founder-led business there are five reasons businesses get stuck:

1. The founder doesn't want to grow the business.
2. The founder doesn't believe it's possible to grow the business.
3. The founder doesn't know how to grow the business.
4. The founder cannot gain access to resources needed to unlock the next growth phase.
5. The founder doesn't have the mental, emotional, psychological and spiritual strength to do what is needed to grow the business.

That fifth reason is the hardest to spot from the outside, but if you are there, you probably recognise it immediately. That conversation you know you should be having, but are avoiding. That tough decision that needs execution – but you always find something else just slightly more important or urgent to do first.

The harder something is going to be, the more important it is to prepare meticulously.

That tough conversation you must have, but have been procrastinating?

Decide that you will have it tomorrow, but TODAY, put an hour aside to sit down and plan the conversation. Ask yourself what you want out of the conversation. What will you say? What do you expect the other person to say? How are you going to feel? How will you deal with feeling that way? Are you going to start with small talk or go straight to the hard part? What exactly will your opening line be? Don't plan to “look for a chance” tomorrow. Schedule the time, and the place, today.

Prepare for hard.

The harder it will be, the harder you must prepare.

To your success

Ashton

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Grow Your Business

5-2-50 is a Movement of Christian small business founders dedicated to creating a million good jobs by growing 25 000 small businesses of at least 5 people, that have been running for at least 5 years, to 50 people or more, to ZAR 10 million NPAT, and to Free the Founder from the day to day grind of the business.

​To achieve this, we need founders, facilitators, coordinators, creators, influencers and church leaders.

If this excites you, see how you can get involved: https://www.5-2-50.co.za/​