the tortoise and the hare

As I was power walking my way to toned legs nirvana, I had a clumsy moment; I decided to embrace the teaching moment nature had given me, and translate it into a lesson about running a business.

Funny things happen when you begin walking around your neighborhood to get the simplest form of exercising in. Besides noticing that you should probably cut your grass because everyone else’s lawn is putting yours to shame, or potentially attracting a stalker, (switch up your habitual routines ladies) what you begin to notice over time is results. Sometimes the path you take is a pleasant walk, and sometimes if you don’t know where you’re going, you end up on a dead end street. Sometimes you never lose weight because the walking speed and time you put in don’t match the goals you’re trying to reach.  Sometimes, you just choose the wrong direction. Every now and then you run into other walkers and joggers, some may say hi, some may ignore you, heck, some may even make for new friends.  

But on this day, I stumbled on unleveled ground and injured my toe. I already had a brace on the one knee which was now pulsing, (the knee that is) and now the big toe on my “good” side was all jacked up. I didn’t have a car to just hop in, forgot my cell, and had no money to pay anybody to help me get to my destination, and my walking peeps were busy trying to meet their own goals. All of a sudden the neighborhood was a chilling ghost town with no one in sight.  My targeted destination (home) was just ahead even though I couldn’t see it, I felt exhausted and hurt.

What did I do? I took a breather, stretched out my leg cramps, remembered that the path I had chosen had a clearly defined end goal and destination which was just up ahead, I sucked it up and took my butt home. That’s right, I went limping down the street tired, frustrated, and doubtful about my abilities and the path I chose, I mean who the heck trips on a routine walk and injures themselves? Still, I pressed on and got to my destination.

What does this have to do with running a business?

Running a business is a part of your journey; it’s a path you choose to walk. It’s a path that takes a lot of energy and hard work before you see the fruit of your labor.  Some people try to run it as if it were a sprint; to the top of the mountain they go before they look ahead to see what possible dangers await them. They tumble down without good bearing. Every business leader I respect, never said it was easy. It’s not. Some days it’s sunny and it can feel like a beach party, you catch momentum and ride the waves.Other times it could feel like the coldest winter ever and you hope you have enough to hold over and weather the storm. Sometimes, you may have to work a job and on your business even though you wonder if you have enough time in the day to accomplish both.

But if you’re serious about running and growing a business you’re going to have to treat it like one. If you’re feeling tired, unmotivated, uninspired you still have to do what you have to do in order to go where you’re trying to go. There are employees who have no problem fulfilling the vision of the one who put them to work. Heck, they go in ill; they don’t want to waste a sick day on a sick day!

You make time for Scandal and Game of Thrones; and don’t hesitate to pull your credit card out to add to your shoe collection.

So why then would we not give ourselves that same kind of fighting chance to invest in and grow our business, tired, injured toes and all?

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