Normalize Winning
One of my favorite parts of my work is walking alongside small businesses, helping them unlock new gears they never knew existed. For example, this week I'm meeting with a business coaching client who has far surpassed every goal he ever set for his business. Whether it's revenue, client roster, gross margins, impact, or net income, he has exceeded every benchmark that he previously used to define "winning."
It's not that he originally doubted himself, but rather, he never thought to dream this big. He never actually gave himself permission to win like this. His original plan was to simply provide enough income to support his family and save for the future. It never dawned on him that he could create something this impressive. It never occurred to him that he possessed the ability to build something so cool.
But here we are! Every time we walk through his numbers, his eyes get big and his smile even bigger. He's dumbfounded by where this is going, but he's embracing it every step of the way. The biggest shift that allowed this to happen is that he normalized winning. He stopped being bashful and feeling guilty about his newfound success, and is instead focused on practicing excellence and serving people well. The rest takes care of itself.
Another consequence of shifting our perspective and dreaming bigger is the decision-making shift it requires of us. If our goals are small, we’ll make decisions that will unlock these small goals. However, when our goals are large, it requires a different set of decisions to unlock it. Will we achieve these wild goals? Maybe or maybe not. However, there’s a high likelihood that even if we fail to meet the goal, we’ll end up in a far better spot than had we set expectations lower.
While this may seem like a "duh" idea, I sincerely believe it's one of the key drivers for people who are trying to build something (whether a business, career, or ministry). Normalize winning, whatever that looks like for you. Whatever you think the ceiling is, double it.....triple it.....quadruple it. It's okay to shoot high and work toward a yet-to-be-defined target.
More than anything, though, be sure to approach it with meaning, purpose, and a desire to make an impact. When you do, it makes the journey all that much more fulfilling. If you find meaning in the day-to-day process, regardless of the outcome, you've already won.
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