Fuel for Thought

Reaching The Summit

Reaching the summit of your business goals is often challenging. There are many peaks and valleys along the way. Just when you reach the top, oftentimes there can be a plateau, but more often there is a another valley on your way to the next peak.

Coasting may improve your fuel mileage, but that may be the only time where coasting is desired.

In business, coasting can be detrimental to your bottom line. You worked hard to reach your lofty goals and once you reach the peak of your uphill climb, coasting will only bring you back down. Consequently, reaching your goal and just wandering the plateau is neither reaching higher goals or falling below expectations. Competition is fierce, challenging and everywhere. Reaching a plateau and remaining there is stagnant to your business while your competition is still raising the bar.

Reaching a summit and remaining there is not an option. As your competition climbs higher, so must you. Continual growth is a must.

Enjoy the fruits of your labor. Celebrate your victories, but not to the extent of destroying the victory. Coasting on a past achievement only reduces the grandeur of it over time. Keep climbing for the higher goal or make a new higher goal.

We win and lose in business, without the losses, the wins would have less meaning. The losses also should teach us better ways to win in the future. Coasting on a win may as well be a loss, as losses force you to reach higher and coasting on a win has delayed further growth.

Are you getting the most out of your business? Why not get more?

Once you reach the pinnacle of success for your current goals, camping on past victories could be your ultimate demise.

The path to your goals may be the very thing in need of altering, or not. Good business decisions rely on past experiences, good judgement and reliable sources of knowledge. It is up to us to take heed of the sound advice and discard the useless. This can be our most difficult task at times, as when we seek advice of others, their experiences and motives help determine the quality of the advice.

Several decisions led to the Donner Party troubles. Happenstance can play its role, but poor decisions based on flawed information also had a part. Deciding to coast, or sit still and camp, had a major impact on the ultimate demise of the now famous wagon train. For all their success from Illinois to the Sierra Mountains, deciding to remain while unprepared for the winter ahead, was arguably the worst decision of all. There are no shortcuts to success. You must work harder than your competition, more often and with an unceasing desire to reach your goals. Perseverance pays in the end. Reach the summit, the next valley and the next.

Never stop learning. Never stop improving.

See you down the road,

Greg