Sell, do work, sell do work. Up-down, up-down, Owning a business can feel like being on a roller coaster.

Up you go, finding customers, wondering how to pay the bills, dealing with employee headaches and client emergencies. Then you reach the top and down you go, money is coming in, you are busy delivering your products and services, you get to relax and enjoy the business a little bit until you get to the bottom and it the climb up the roller coaster starts all over again.

The cost of being on a roller coaster is you never seem to get ahead.

It’s like the old saying you keep doing things the same way but you expect a different result. Or worse, you do many different activities and nothing seems to change.

What does it take to build wealth? 

It takes consistency. In his book Great By Choice, Jim Collins talks about two explorers each of similar age and experience, each having similar weather conditions, leading their respective teams to the south pole in October 1911.  Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott used vastly different methods to lead their teams and in the end, one team succeeded while the other resulted in exhaustion and death. 

The famous principle describing the team that succeeded in reaching the South Pole is called the 20-mile march.

Regardless of the weather, Amundsen kept to a disciplined number of miles (20)  of trekking each and every day. By contrast, the team led by Robert Falcon Scott would march 40 and 50 miles when weather conditions were good and hunker down when the weather conditions were poor. That meant in good weather, the men were driven to the brink of exhaustion.

A more familiar example of the 20-mile march is in driving your car.

I call this the redlight, greenlight way of driving. The redlight car speeds off at the first sign of green only to stop at the red.  This happens over and over again.  The greenlight car, on the other hand, doesn’t speed off when the light changes. The greenlight car goes smoothly and evenly at the speed limit so that each time the greenlight car reaches the stoplight the light turns green. The green light car keeps moving smoothly along and eventually passes the redlight car stopped and waiting for the light to turn green. You might also know this story as the tortoise and the hare.

Successful people know that consistent steady progress in building the foundations, systems, customer base, culture, and people is how you build wealth. Business owners that continually change direction, looking for the next best gimmick eventually fail.

The foundation for consistent steady progress is patience and passion.

Passion for your business is the fire that keeps you going every day. It’s what gets you up early in the morning and keeps you up late at night. With passion is patience. Knowing that each day, you do the 20-mile march and you set up consistent actions for success. You do a little each day that moves the needle forward.

Eventually, you reach the tipping point and like the roller coaster, you glide into your home destination.

 For more information on Growing your Business by Design, creating financial well-being and steps you can take to grow wealth please visit our website at www.businessgrowthbydesign.com.

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