How bold will you be in 2024 and beyond?
I am not talking stupid bold. I am not advocating for people and businesses to throw money away. Heck, if you do…throw a little my way 😊
Play confident, don’t do anything earth-shattering, but keep moving forward. In whatever you are pursuing.
But TK – there is a saying “fortune favours the bold” and there are people and organizations that subscribe to this mindset. We are often in awe of those amazing successes that have achieved fame and fortune.
And then many people think, “sigh, why couldn’t that be me…”
Because you need to determine how bold you will be. And then get after it. With bold investments. And this is not easy.
As an individual we all have self-limiting beliefs that we often use as our first filter about whether we should or should not do something.
There are only the best of the best participating in sports at the highest level. There is only one top student in a class.
As an organization (comprised of people – key point to remember) there are people involved in planning and decision-making at all levels of the company. And many of these people have, or should have, some input into the future plans and tactics of the company.
And yet, there are more new business innovation failures and outright business failures than there are successes in either category. When I teach strategy and marketing the textbooks indicate 50 to 70% new business failure within 5 years and up to 90% of new products that don’t make it past a year (give or take a few % points).
If you are reading this far you might be thinking I am pouring cold water on your personal flame.
Nothing could be farther from the truth.
The equation is simple for anything on a personal or business level.
The harder you work the luckier you get
Or
If you do not take a step forward, lift heavier (physically or mentally) you will not move beyond where you are today.
If you want to “unscare” your money and other investments there are countless ways you can grow forward.
The first step is to say you want to move forward. If you play timid, if you bet timid (remember all those experiments about loss aversion?), if you act timid there is no way you can expect bold results.
And this is hard. Pushing forward in a bold manner requires mental toughness, perseverance, intestinal fortitude (the guts to act and a stomach strong enough to keep food inside), emotional stability, and a strong circle of support (personally and business-wise). I personally add my faith to this mixture – your choice as to what you believe in.
There will be bumps, bruises (mostly emotional), and some disappointments.
And then we realize it is not as bad as we thought (because it was mostly in our own heads).
Our investment – be it time, money, physical or mental effort – will determine our results.
The bolder you play, the bolder your results might be.
I must reiterate – this is not a magical formula. It is based on your deep thinking and hard work. Your goals will determine what you need as inputs.
If you are easing off (retirement???) then expect results accordingly. If you are starting out in your career or in a new business get ready for long days, fun days, gruelling days, and then you do it all again the next month.
The fine print is always “results are not guaranteed and will vary.” Nobody can predict the future – but we can ready ourselves and our organizations to make sound investments and drive towards results.
I will also recommend adding in a good dose of humour into your investments. You need to be able to laugh at some things knowing you might shed a few tears in other situations.
Life is a heckuva ride. Winning and losing. Growing older and shrinking a bit (except my belly haha). Loving and losing (people, pets, companies that no longer exist).
And the adventure begins again each day. What wonders await? What do we want to try? What do we want to master? Who do we want to meet with, collaborate with, get introduced to?
As you head into 2024 I am not advocating for any specific resolution for you. I am advocating for you to figure out what kind of money you are playing with this year.
My money is on me and it has a wry smile and is ready to go…Onward!
Tim's Thursday Thoughts 