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My 14 years’ experience of growing a business from £0-£100m as well as the life that goes with it.

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Simon Says

Winformation this week...

For me competitors fall into one of 3 categories. Those I like, but don’t respect. Those I respect, but don’t like and those I don’t like and don’t respect. And the actions of someone recently from a company that very much falls into this last category reminded me of the reason I got into all of this in the first place. You have these sly players in every industry. And whilst it’s embarrassing to have to share a market with these category 3 competitors, especially when they compare themselves to you from a motivational point of view, they are the Christmas gift that keeps on giving, 365 days a year. You see, unfortunately, I’m not motivated by anything positive. I wish it was different, but it’s not. When things are going well, and everyone is happy I can feel my motivation dipping. The panic sets in. And then when a competitor tries to pull a stunt, or you found out there has been a blatant lie or personal attack, then I feel normal again, and I get to work. Working hard to beat the competition and raise the standards once again of the industry that some of these people simply don’t deserve to be in. If they realised the gift they were handing people like me, they really would clean up their act. I’m fortunate enough to have made friends with many successful people over the years, and almost to a person, they are exactly the same as me. It’s not a rare thing, but very common. I call it dark side energy. And below in today’s One Idea to Win in Business we look at what it is, and how to harness it for the good of your company, your hardworking team and the industry you serve.

When it comes to worrying, on my day I could give anyone a run for their money. I definitely got better in the past few years, I used to be a stone-cold championship winning worrier. That was until someone in the coaching group I was part of explained how he lists the issues and then simply crosses out the ones out of his control. So simple, but so effective. Below in today’s One Idea to Win in Life we talk all things “worry”.

One Idea to Win in Business

Motivation: Harnessing the Dark Side

After doing this shit for almost 15 years, I can tell you one thing; I am not motivated by anything positive. This is sad, but unfortunately true. I am motivated by the dark side, to prove people wrong. You put a nice shiny medal in front me and I’m not that interested. Remind me of the negative thing someone said 5 years ago about me, then watch me get to work.

My ability to remember who said what, when they said it, the smirk they had on their face and where it took place is an unfortunate (but a very valuable) tool. It can be pretty obvious to others as well, including people that don’t know me very well.

A Chip On Both Shoulders

To illustrate my point, I put a post up the other day on my socials and one of the common comments was from people pointing out something they thought they were the first person in the world to ever discover about me.

"You have issues mate”“

"A balanced argument, you have a chip on both shoulders”

“You need to resolve your inferiority complex”

These comments are all spot on, I don’t just have a chip on my shoulder, I have a sack of potatoes. I actually cultivate it on purpose. Tapping into “the dark side” has one of my most valued tools, this may change over the next decade as I mature, but I wont be putting it back in the toolbox any time soon. Any big wins, any real growth in either myself or my section of our business has come from someone telling me I can’t do something, a competitor saying something I know to be untrue, or people saying (and most commonly) that my “success” so far has been luck.

This has always been far more important to me than accomplishing things because of a nice feeling of “achievement” after. I envy those who can make comments about the chip on my shoulder, they are right and they probably lead more peaceful lives. More peaceful…but probably much smaller.

Nice Game Mike

Netflix over the lockdown got a hammering from the nation, didn’t it. For many, there wasn’t much else to do. Along with Tiger King, my favourite show was The Last Dance. They released it weekly on the platform, a behind the scenes show of “at the time” footage of the Chicago Bulls of the 90s. I was hooked. The programme of course featured mainly Michael Jordon. If you want to study, what makes good into great, watch this programme. If you’ve seen it, you will know of the scene where Jordan recalls hearing LeBradford Smith (Washington Bullets) saying to Jordan after the 1992 clash with the Bulls “Nice Game Mike” in an apparent sarcastic dig at Jordan’s uncharacteristic quiet performance.

Jordan rages, tells his teammates that the return game (the following night in Washington) was going to be very different, because of this comment. Indeed it was. Jordan used this negative comment to enrage his dark side for a positive outcome, issue was….it never happened. Jordan made it up. The whole thing.

Jordan admitted years later, he would regularly invent dark stories and negative comments to himself to spark motivation.

That’s the issue, the more you win, the more you rise, the harder it is to find dark moments to work against. When you start they are everywhere. When you grow and things become more comfortable, it takes a real effort to find situations you must overcome and people to prove wrong.

Unbalanced Outcome, Unbalanced Approach

People will say this is unhealthy, but nothing about growing a business from nothing into a big company is that “healthy” in the traditional sense of the word. To grow a big business, you are seeking a very rare and unbalanced outcome, to do this with a balanced “healthy” approach (from the founders at least) is unfortunately not going to happen.

So…next time someone puts you down, laughs at your dreams or says you cant do something…rather than take it to heart, thank them for the amazing gift they have just given you.

One Idea to Win in Life

Feeling Drained: How to Worry Less Without Ignoring Your Emotions

When you’re pushing towards a goal, not everything goes to plan. Some days drain you whether it’s people’s attitudes, office politics, or the 3-mile traffic jam that wrote off your morning. Maybe it’s the heat keeping you up at night, or just life throwing curveballs. It’s easy to feel the urge to vent. But here’s the deal: not everything is in your control. What is in your control is how you choose to respond.

1. It’s ok to worry, but not all the time. You have probably already been told to think positive. Don’t forget to grind and all that business. But you are a human being too. It’s ok to worry. If you are going to do it, schedule some time to do it. While you’re at it, look at the solutions to your worries that are within your control.

2. Giving your worries a time slot. Following step one makes a bit of worrying time actually quite constructive. This is because it enables to see what is and what is not in your control. If it isn’t, then a lot of the time, it probably isn’t worth worrying about.

3. Don’t suppress your feelings. It’s no use thinking you’re invincible and have no need to even consider worrying because you’re above. That’s just suppressing your emotions. Acknowledge what is on your mind.

4. The future loves to play tricks on your mind. If there is one thing we like as much as dwelling on the past, is looking ahead and worrying about the future. Am I good enough to do what I want to do? While stewing over the answer you go through the agony of situations that haven’t even happened. Remain positive and optimistic about the future and take steps towards that desired outcome.

5. Temporal distancing.  Accepting what you cannot control is not about giving up. It is about knowing where and when not to use up your energy. Letting go of things at times can make you feel a lot better than getting wound up unnecessarily.

Win or Wonder?

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Until next week! 

Let’s win, together!