Fear – my beloved growth

Intro story

I’ll tell you a story, just a very regular one, default case, that surprised me a great deal. And had to find an answer to something we all deal with.

Well, I had a new client, first meeting, she was a little bit nervous, yet the case seemed at first really boring to me, as my first guess was – I can’t help her. But, as it usually is, and I am learning already my moves, it became interesting and interesting, more she spoke about her business. At some point I grabbed marker and started to draw and write what she has told me. Turned out, under very labour intensive business, which I personally dislike, there was a repetitive model, not too easy scalable, yet a very clear pattern that could make reason for all the hassle she has to put up with. And I digged for more to reach to the bottom of business. Once I was done and she couldn’t tell me any “new” aspects of her business anymore, I summed it up and a clear vision draw out of it. Oh boy, I was happy.

We saw 6,6x very realistically doable growth, if only she had right people in place & had some additional business relationships. Turned out, she actually has direct contact with these right people, as she grooms them herself and is able to pick sharper pens from the box. Also she has all these necessary business relationships, and some I could add to hers. Adding it all to its location, cost & contacts business – the replication is not so easy nor fast to happen. But again, after writing it down, slightly re-designing some processes and by changing value propositions, playing a bit longer game, it became perfect. And she was already on a move towards it, unknowingly. We found some flaws in her business math which we removed and instantly it all became clear.

Really very fast forward, after doing the math, we saw that hitting 1,2M instead of almost 100k was really doable. Not a piece of cake, easy-beasy, blaah, nope. Pretty hard and solid precise work for a year or maybe 3. She was happy, I was happy, seemed we had a plan to go after.
I went for 10-100x growth, but found 6.6x growth model in 2 hours. And by replicating the model she could grow it faster.

 

What are we afraid of

By the time I got home there was an email waiting for me saying – “hey, well, you know, it seems too fast, let’s talk about it later, like next month or so”. You could only imagine my surprise. Why? What happened? What did I do wrong? Where’s the hook? What could I have done better to proceed right away?

As you already know, things don’t happen randomly. “Accidentally” I happened to read different articles and watch a list of videos about what happens to people when they’ve been presented too rapid growth – they fail themselves. They are not ready yet.  It’s too huge step forward. Why does every startup and entrepreneurial book tell you to develop yourself faster than your company? Because owners tend to hinder the speed of development, and in many cases small companies die as their owner is not willing to evolve faster than the surrounding context.

Fast rewind to high school. We were not afraid of anything, we knew it all. We were the best, brutal, fast, smart. Then, in time, we learn, we become adequate, we realise that we know nothing about anything and we sort of lose our self belief.

 

How to overcome of that low point

Ehh, there are tons of books, articles and videos trying to solve the same problem. In short – you have to take action. Not necessarily putting your head into oven, but studying and preparing for more, until you are certain that if all goes south, you have a plan B and C and D if necessary. Once you have a solid plan, you start executing your plan. The key here is simple – wondering isn’t gonna take you anywhere. Action does. Do it.

 

Why should we grow

I’ll give you few reasons why should you grow. You should be able to find these for yourself, but I name few that matter to me the most. Self esteem and self belief, it’s really hard to be a valuable community member if you have lost these. You find it hard to respect yourself if you haven’t show results for yourself. Some rely on others’ praisings, some have higher inner standards themselves. The only responsibility you have to yourself is actually your own personal growth. In which direction you evolve, what you learn – irrelevant. Your inner compass tells you – you made a difference, because you did something better than last time. Or maybe it’s not so irrelevant, maybe it is very very very important that you evolve towards what you fear the most. Conquering these steps in you make you significantly better person, at least in your own eyes. As at our doomsday, we wish we had a large impact to large number of people or we feel failed spending our days among mankind doing nothing significant. Try to live with that burden, just think if it at least!

 

Long story short

I am impatient, I got no time to watch videos and read thick books. I want to see the impact fast. My cure has always been talking to people smarter and more experienced than me. Mentors, coaches, advisors. I consider them as tools in my toolbox. If I am short of someone, I’ll go find her or him. Sometimes I just need a nudge, sometimes it’s a longer process. You know your strengths and weaknesses, you pick your tool.

 

What I believe you have found when you are afraid

You have found a right thing to pursue. Go for it as this is the only thing at the moment that makes you bigger, better, smarter, bolder, greater.

Bad things happen to you if you donät follow your inner calling to evolve. You can imagine.

You should make a decision, to go for it yourself, if you have it all. Some have, most of us don’t. Or you should go see if you can lend a tool or few who/which could help you to your next level faster. As time is your enemy, and busy is your enemy, and you might be your enemy.

 

Fear – my beloved growth

So once you feel afraid, instead you should embrace the moment of recognition as now you know what you should be doing – to grow yourself towards.

And if this really overwhelms you, then take action, look up advisors, coaches, mentors, whoever can help you to solve the puzzle you are struggling with and move on with your growth! Today!

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