Any self-respecting adult has developed a respectable array of excuses by their early 20s especially when it comes to underperformance. First there was the family, then lack of time, role models, money, resources, schooling, neighborhoods, you name it. In business every day we’re facing the same from our partners, suppliers, customers and yes, ourselves. “What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail” was a cute expression until I realized how true it can be. Another lesson I learned in CrossFit.
What if you had to finish, no matter what? We all love the underdog but hate the quitter. In CrossFit if we can’t quite lift the weight or run the distance we do what’s called ‘scaling’. They won’t let you walk away from the challenge. You still do the movement but with less load, distance or repetition.
In business, it is the one more call we make to the client, the extra hour we spend on the project, the little more support we give the team that makes the deal come through or the project get done. It is the difference between seeing results or failing.
When in business, we need to scale but always finish the movement as well. Whether it is a call, a document or that additional meeting we don’t think we can handle.
