The enemy of Great Is Good.

Those six words really shaped my thought process when I first read them in the book Good To Great by Jim Collins. Collins and his group did exhaustive research on several companies who made the leap from Good to Great over a 20 year period or so, not sure the exact number of years. He also contrasted that with companies in the same industry who remained the same or failed. It was amazing to see the differences in the mindset of the CEO’s who led these contrasting organizations.

I don’t want to make this post into a book report, Lord knows how much I hated book reports in school. However, I want to share with you a concept I remember from the book more than any other. A thought process that has stayed with me to this day and is a part of the foundation from which I have built EverydayIsSaturday.com.

The Fox And The Hedgehog

The story of the fox and the hedgehog goes like this:

Each day the hedgehog wakes up with one thing on his mind: To go out, search for food and feed his family.

That’s it.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Each day he gets that fat, frumpy body moving out of it’s hole and wanders out into the land. He’s thinking “I just want to feed the kids…” Think of the old Dunkin Dougnuts commercial where the man wakes up early each morning mumbling “Time to make the doughnuts.” Same thing.

He goes out for food, comes home. Does it again tomorrow.

Rinse and repeat.

Then there’s the fox.

The fox is this good looking, cunning, clever animal who thinks of new ways to kill his foe the hedgehog every day. Each day the fox wakes up and says “I’m going to outsmart that fat sack of nothing, Mr Hedgehog and kill him! Today is the day…..” Then he exits his den to look for the hedgehog. Once he sees his nemesis he stops, retreats behind a bush and begins planning a new and innovative way to attack. He thinks of ways the hedgehog will never suspect.

And then – Wham! The fox begins his descent on the hedgehog, coming in from a brand new direction, never seen before. There is no way the hedgehog stands a chance this time. The fox has been thinking about this all night over brandy and a few cigarettes. He plotted and plotted until he was convinced the fat, sloppy hedgehog would never survive such an intelligent maneuver.

The fox is just a few feet from it’s target when Mr. Hedhog stops (yawns) and says to himself “Oh no, not this nutcase again. When is he ever going to learn?” Then the hedgehog curls up into a ball and makes damn sure the fox sees his sharp porcupine-like needles sticking out from his skin like razor blades.

The fox stops in his tracks.

Foiled again by Hedgehog.

And the fox retreats to his den, suffering another embarrassing setback in his never-ending war with fat boy. The hedgehog picks himself back up, brushes off his furs and blows a kiss to the fox saying “Peace, out.”

Question: What do this have to do with you?

Answer: Everything

The number one question I receive from clients is “Why isn’t my business working? I love what I do but I just can’t seem to gain any traction.”

Answer: You’re acting like a fox and need to begin acting like a hedgehog.

You have thought up so many different ways to attack your dream but have missed a major point. You can’t keep slicing and dicing different angles with your passion. You have to find a way that works for you and stay with it. Success is not going to happen right away. And while we’re at it, let’s define right away – 2-3 yrs. Yes, I would consider 2-3 years as ‘fast-tracking’ your success.

Do you know how long I have been an entrepreneur?

Over 10 yrs.

For five of those ten years I was a entrepreneur living inside an employee’s body dying a slow death. You know what else I was doing? I was thinking up thousands of ways to get to my Saturday – I had a fox mentality. Had I stayed with my passion from the beginning, I’d be way farther ahead right now. But that’s not how it worked out and that’s not how it was supposed to work out for me. I had to learn the hard way so I could come back and let you know all about it.

In hindsight, it would have been better for everyone involved had I simply launched a personal development business from the get-go and took on the hedgehog mentality. Each day I should have woke up, written articles, blog posts and recorded podcasts about nothing other than personl development. Eventually I got there but not after years of chasing the hedgehog instead of being one.

Here’s what you need to do right now:

- Define what exactly is your Saturday

- Do not waffle one iota from that stance. I don’t care how many people say you’re crazy. If you know in your heart of hearts that this is your passion and what you are meant to do, do it!

- Every waking moment of your business day should be geared around this hedgehog concept. Notice I said “business day” not family time. The reason you are paying the price now is so you don’t have to later. Don’t keep your laptop open around your kids when they want to have conversations with you.

- Stay focused. Why is being a fox so much easier than being a hedgehog? Because there’s no accountability. All you have to say is “Ah, foiled again, darnit. Oh well, I’m a fox and that’s what’s supposed to happen because it’s been happening ever day of my life.” That’s unacceptable. That’s a defeatist attitude similar to “juts my luck”. That doesn’t work in this arena.

- Get the food for your family and go home. By this I mean to keep it simple. Stop over-complicating things. When I have the biggest struggles in my business is when I bring in too many people around me and give up control. I have learned (unfortunately) that nobody has the passion I do for my business and therefore, is not allowed to get close to the action. If they do, ultimately things go awry and I’m left holding the back. Stay in control 100% of the time. Bring in a mastermind team but no partners. Your business is your business and nobody will ever care more about it that you.

Keep it simple.

Get the food and get back home.

When the foxes try to attack, curl up, point your needles at them and say “Get lost.”

Wake up and do it again tomorrow.

Let me know how it goes:)

Sam