week 87: in the end the winner is "the great adjuster" and not "the heroics"

never perfect

thank you to over 11,000 of you who read this weekly and share with your friends and family for behind the scenes on building a million dollar business from scratch and beyond.

i also include a personal note in the end so i am grateful that you let me do that without judgement.

---

a recent HBR article said this: “the single most important thing is making progress in meaningful work.”

when i think about meaningful work, i think about progress.

but progress comes at a cost.

and the cost is dependent on making decisions.

so right now i am in the middle of 4 tough decisions as a CEO:

• key partnership that can sky rocket brand

• a new product line that will redefine the future of the company and likely the industry at large

• hosting an event in 2025 in a way that has never been done before

• making sure there is always enough money in the bank for one year of payroll for the team

now those are incredibly tough decisions with zero to may be 30% of the information.

so how do we make decisions???

well here is my philosophy on making decisions that has served me well:

• remember that almost all decisions in business are reversible (there are some irreversible but mostly can be reversed so learn to adjust)

• own the decision and test it out (don’t wait and procrastinate - the worst is that you will know it’s wrong early)

• check my ego at the door (any decisions that inflates my ego is likely a bad decision)

when i make decisions with the north star philosophy like this, i find myself at peace.

the point is that the team and i are constantly adjusting…

the winning is in the speed and willingness to be wrong i.e. adjust as you go.

i call this “the great adjuster” moment.

---

on a personal note, Krish is at another tournament in Macon.

he won one and lost another match.

he got tight on his serves and lost to someone he has beat four times.

what happened?

well, the pressure to win since he has won before consumed him.

was he a better player… perhaps and i am biased.

did the other kid play well… you bet, he put it all on the line.

Krish and i discussed that instead of thinking about winning, he should be thinking of adjusting the game as it progresses.

make decisions point by point, game by game instead of walking with a single minded strategy that may or may not work.

when we think about winning, we put undue and unrealistic pressure on ourselves.

when we think about adjusting, we think about improving, strategy, tactics and that eventually leads to winning.

i asked him - who will in the long run:

one who thinks about winning?

OR

the one who thinks about waking up at 5 am each day and putting in the work?

Krish said, of course the second one bcos he is putting in the work and not thinking about winning.

it was great moment driving back as we bonded on the fact that winning should be a by product.

it’s hard to keep the ego out the door but if we can, we will simply improve, get stronger, get faster and get better and eventually win.

but if winning is the goal, either you will have all time high or all time low feelings and that’s a sure way to burn out.

leader point: In business and in life, the great adjuster will always win in the end.