Nobody Is Coming to Save You
Eight days into Northern Vessel's extended-hours experiment, the results have been, well, underwhelming. Instead of being open until 3PM, we extended that to 6PM. We put a lot of thought into this decision and weighed all the factors carefully. The result? After eight days of data, we're performing about 40% below estimates. In other words, we're not anywhere close to where we hoped to be.
What shall we do? One option is to sit around, twiddling our thumbs, hoping things magically improve. Or, I suppose we could do what many other businesses do: publicly cry that people don't "support small business" enough, hoping to guilt them into coming. I kid, I kid.
Or, we can apply the same philosophy I tell many of my coaching clients: "Nobody is coming to save you, so you might as well save yourself." It's on us to figure it out! If we want to drive meaningful results at NV, we must step in and step up.
It's no different than our own personal finances. When things aren't going well, it's so easy to cry foul, then sit back and hope things improve. A while back, I met with a young couple that was saddled with $93,000 of car, student, and credit card debt. They had been married for approximately three years, and the debt essentially stood still for the entirety of their marriage. They had every excuse and frustration in the book......and most were valid. They had been dealt a bad hand, experienced bad luck, and had been unfairly screwed over a few times. During one particularly intense meeting, I let out the magic quote: "Nobody is coming to save you, so you might as well save yourself."
Fast forward one year, and half of their debt is gone. The moment they realized it was on them to figure it out and nobody was going to save them, a fire was lit under them to step in and step up. I'm so unbelievably proud of them, and I look forward to celebrating their amazing debt-free celebration sometime in 2027.
This same story plays out in countless households. A bad situation, a few mistakes, a bit of bad luck, lots of anger, and endless frustration. We can sit and do nothing, we can cry foul, or we can step in and step up. The moment we realize nobody is coming to save us is often a turning point in that journey. Doing nothing takes very little effort, but unfortunately, yields minimal results. Crying foul doesn't do much good, either. We may ear the sympathy of others, but it doesn't move the needle. Often, the only viable option is to attack the situation head-on. It's rarely fun, but it's the recipe for success.
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