I first wrote this post immediately following Super Bowl XLIX (2/1/15).
That's when the Seahawks were trying to repeat as Super Bowl champions but the last play they "ran" on the goal line will be debated until the sun explodes into a supernova and takes with it our satellites, flat-screens, and blow-hard commentators.
Since then there have been countless plays called that, in retrospect, are now considered "obviously" bold or idiotic.
Heck, the mere fact Pete Carroll chose third-round draft choice Russell Wilson to be the starting QB as a rookie was a bold call in 2012 and it paid off with a playoff appearance that first year, a Super Bowl victory his second year, and a Super Bowl appearance his third year.
It seems obvious now that Wilson is a great quarterback, but hindsight is 20/20. Would you have made the decision to draft him?
Your Life Decisions
What about your own life?
Today you are given the opportunity to make seemingly simple decisions about everything from
- what you eat (did you skip that donut at the office or double down?)
- your exercise routine (did you reward your hard workout with that donut...or comfort yourself for not exercising with that donut and double down on ruining your health?)
- how to promote your business (share a meme or make an interesting post about a case study on a client you've helped?)
- make another prospecting call (or hide behind your email or maybe research their profile on LinkedIn and send a connection request?)
- click away from this post after nodding a bit, and go goof off on social media.
Deciding to spend an extra 15 minutes a day on Facebook turns into 91.25 hours over 365 days.
In that time, if you are just an average reader, you could read:
- Atlas Shrugged
- Gone With the Wind
- Lord of the Rings
- Crime and Punishment, and
- The Sales Whisperer® Way. (And you thought you didn't have time to read!)
Small hinges swing big doors."
When your goal is to compete at the highest level, like Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson, you have to make quick decisions that the weak are not willing to make.
If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice."
Quite often you have to make important split-second decisions that impact the lives of those around you despite not having all the information you'd like to have.
That's called life. Welcome to it.
And when you're living in the Big Leagues, you have to more and bigger decisions, faster, more often, and with less information.
Still wanna run with the big dogs?
Those Who Can Write Big Checks Make Quick Decisions
It's the world in which the decision-makers you are trying to reach, meet, and close live in their entire lives.
Sure, sure the meeting they have with you about buying your widget, your SaaS, your training, your whatchamacallit is a big deal to you, but they have ten more meetings today after yours, and each one is bigger, more urgent, and more impactful to the direction and fate of their company.
Yeah, yeah. That O-ring is important, but so are the nozzles, the navigation system, the solid-fuel rocket boosters, etc.
As you fret over whether to use a white or gray background on your PowerPoint slides, that C-Level decision-maker you're meeting this afternoon is making decisions such as:
- whether to shut down the entire call center in Atlanta and outsource it overseas.
- whether to move ahead with a protracted lawsuit against a competitor over IP theft.
- how to allocate $7 million in marketing funds after a failed—and quite visible—social media flop.
- whether to commit to a 5-year lease on the current building and expand to the next two floors or open a satellite office two time zones away.
These powerful people do not want to be in another meeting with another sales wimp who is:
- afraid of their own shadow.
- not willing to make a firm recommendation and back it up with data and facts.
- walking on eggshells in a weak effort to not say the wrong thing or rub someone the wrong way.
The types of decision-makers who can make or break your entire quota with the click of their mouse or the nod of their head want to do business with people like them.
Facebook is famous for their saying,
Move fast. Break things."
I add,
Be bold. Move fast. Break things."
Sometimes the bold, fast decisions you make will break things in your business or your life.
Those decisions may even bring a tear to your eye.
Crying is all right in its way while it lasts. But you have to stop sooner or later, and then you still have to decide what to do.”
~C.S. Lewis, The Silver Chair
It's better to live with regret over the bold actions you took than the opportunities you skipped.
When the tears cease to flow is when you must decide to continue moving forward boldly, quickly, in a breaking manner, or to hunker down as you beat yourself up for yesterday's decision.
Only one way is what I'd consider living.
Isn't it time you stopped second-guessing yourself and started living, too?
Now go sell something.
