» Are You the Spectator or Player in Your Business?

Early every morning and just before sunset, the beach in front of my condo is busy with fishermen. An eclectic mix of foreigners and Mexicans, there is a peacefulness one senses as every man is alone with nature.

As I walked along the beach one evening, I noticed something remarkably
different about the Mexican men. Unlike the foreigners, many of the Mexicans were fishing with a just a piece of bait tied up with a piece of fishing line. I stopped to watch them use almost a lasso approach, as they would simply swing the bait into the water to lure the fish. No fancy equipment is required to catch the fish in these waters.

How many entrepreneurs have said that they don’t have a website, business
cards, a formal business plan or the right marketing so they can’t start? They
want to have all their ducks lined up in a row before they begin their career as an entrepreneur or start their business.

I’m all for planning and preparation but I have discovered that many times we put off taking action and stay in what I call the “anticipatory mode” rather than engaging in the “participatory mode”. It’s safer and easier to always be planning the next business, the next career change or the next big launch than to “just do it”.

I expect those Mexican men could look at the foreigners with their fancy
equipment and feel inferior or inadequate. Interestingly, what I have noticed is that their buckets are full of fish – just like the men with the fishing reels. The results don’t appear to be any different between the two groups.

I know that we often stay in that anticipatory mode because it’s fun to talk about what we are going to do in the future. It’s easy to plan, change the plans, speculate about the results of the plans and even ignore plans. Perhaps you know people, some even intimately, who always have big plans on the horizon but rarely ever “do” anything.

What happens if you just do it? Then problems can start, plans can fail and you can be left with egg on your face and no fish in your bucket. So fear is a large component of what keeps you in that anticipatory stage rather than fully participating. Fear of what can happen, fear of what might not happen, fear of what others will say, fear of what you may not know or have anticipated and even fear of success. These are all real fears.

For example, many people will talk to me about writing and publishing a book. Every time I talk to them, they are writing the book. Months, even years later, they are still writing the book. That is being in the “anticipatory” stage.

Unless you are a paid ghost writer, you don’t make any money writing your book. It is only the marketing of the book that actually makes you money. Fully participating in the launch and the marketing of the book is the only thing that will get your book out there. This same principle applies to every business. You don’t make money planning a business. You make money DOING a business.

It’s easier to be the spectator at a sporting event than it is to be the professional athlete playing the game. What fun it is to be on the sidelines eating popcorn or drinking a beer at a football game! It’s quite different being on the field, tackling and being tackled, having a definite goal of winning a game and knowing that your future career hangs on your effort and abilities. But who makes the money at the game – the spectator or the athlete?

Likewise, the same principle applies to your business. Get in the game. Start
playing. Face the fears and start moving ahead. You may be very surprised that some of the fears you were worried about never come up and some that you never even thought of show up waving red flags. You won’t know what’s through the door until you open it.

While you may be missing out on problems, challenges and difficulties by playing it safe waiting, planning just a few more months or years or checking that every “I” is dotted and every “t” is perfectly crossed, you are also missing out on opportunities to make money, make connections and start growing your business.

The Mexican fishermen could wait until they had the expensive fishing equipment of the foreigners. But that certainly wouldn’t feed their family tonight. And from what I’ve seen – they’re both catching fish. They’re both having a good time and the results are impressive. There’s always more than one way to run a business, create the income and get going in your entrepreneurial career. A good place to start…is to just start.

If you’re stuck in that “anticipatory” mode, spend some time with yourself and discover what fear you are hoping to avoid by holding back and waiting. Focus on your “big why” for doing what you want and be clear on the results you desire. Go for the fish. Get your feet wet. Throw in your line and get creative. There are plenty of opportunities out there. Always remember – you do need to participate to catch them.

To Your Outrageous Success,

janjanzen2