Of Course It’s Difficult.

Originally sent exclusively to The Letter subscribers on August 24th. Want to be the first to get my personal newsletter in your inbox every Monday at 7am? Subscribe for free here.

If it were easy, everyone would do it.

I like to remind my readers that we are a strange bunch.

I like strange people. I gravitate towards them.

Because nearly all great success seems to come from the acts of the unusual in a very usual world.

It’s unusual to be reading this email because you want to better yourself. You’re actively thinking about your personal development.

I wish that wasn’t unusual.

There are billions of people walking this earth who spend most of their lives thinking below the line, and that thinking inevitably translates into the actions, or lack of actions, they take.

Blame. Excuses. Denial.

That’s usual.

Ownership. Accountability. Responsibility.

That’s unusual.

Most people love the blame game. It’s easier.

Employing people, taking on challenges, being responsible for other people’s livelihoods and deciding that the buck stops with you?

Unusual.

Exercising regularly, reading books, going to seminars, investing in yourself and deliberately working on becoming a better version of yourself?

Unusual.

And I think we should embrace that.

I’m terrible at holidays

I’m away at the moment on holiday with my family.

Something I find incredibly difficult to do.

I try to be as present as I can, and being away does allow me to ponder more than usual. It also does wonders for family connection.

But I have an active mind.

Rest, in the traditional sense, is just not for me.

My idea of rest is self-development nestled into a good book. A walk amongst the trees. Contemplating life around a fire. Having the people I love close to me for a couple of days.

This holiday is ten days. I find that incredibly difficult.

And rather than beat myself up about that, I’ve been thinking about how I solve it.

I want to be with my family. I want that precious time together. But I also know how I’m wired.

So perhaps I need to create a system that allows me to do both. The compromise for me and my family, I think, looks like an air-conditioned villa with a swimming pool and a little office I can dive in and out of.

Work for a couple of hours. Jump in the pool with the kids. Have lunch together. Think. Read. Work. Then back to the family.

I’m going to make that happen as a goal for our family.

Is it unusual to want to work while you’re away?

Probably.

At the same time, I know I must make way for rest, recuperation and family, because doing so will ultimately make me more successful for the people I love and the people I lead.

Which brings me to a story.

Look after the goose.

You may know the old tale of the farmer and the goose that laid the golden eggs.

For those who don’t, the story goes something like this.

A poor farmer owns a goose.

One morning he discovers that the goose has laid a golden egg.

He can’t believe his luck.

He sells it.

The next morning, another golden egg appears.

Then another.

And another.

Slowly, the golden eggs make the farmer wealthy.

But then greed takes over.

The farmer wants to get richer, quicker.

He becomes obsessed with getting more eggs from the goose. He puts it under more pressure and eventually decides that rather than waiting for one golden egg every day, he’ll kill the goose and get all the golden eggs out at once.

So he kills it.

And discovers there are no golden eggs inside.

Now he has no goose.

And no more golden eggs.

The lesson is simple: look after the goose.

Your family is a goose.

Your health is a goose.

Your team and business is a goose.

Your customers are a goose.

This newsletter is one of my geese.

My YouTube channel is another one.

My companies are geese.

They all deliver golden eggs today, or have the potential to deliver golden eggs tomorrow, if I nurture and care for them properly.

The same applies to you.

A car that’s serviced and looked after lasts longer and delivers for you.

A body filled with good nutrition and exercise serves you better.

A brain filled with books, seminars, good people and wise thoughts is more likely to produce wise decisions.

A company whose leadership thinks not only about today, but about tomorrow as well, nearly always gets rewarded.

I genuinely believe delayed gratification is one of the great laws of the universe.

Those prepared to plant, nurture and wait are rewarded disproportionately compared with those constantly searching for the quick win.

I’ve taken a few punches.

While I’ve been away, I’ve made some lists.

I’ve written down what I need to achieve over the next six months, focusing particularly on the things I can control and drive that will move me towards my overall goals.

And I’m looking forward to conquering the next six months with success, vigour and some positive pressure.

I’ve taken a few punches again recently.

I’m getting quite used to them.

But I’ve discovered something about myself.

I’m far more resourceful than I ever thought I was.

Instead of thinking:

Why does this keep happening to me?

I’m trying to reframe it:

How exciting that I’m learning how to deal with this.

Of course doubt tries to creep in.

Anger occasionally knocks on the door too.

But I try to slam the door in their faces when they turn up.

Because there are solutions to almost everything we face.

And strangely, when you look back at the difficult periods in your life, you’re often thankful for them.

Not while you’re going through them, of course.

But afterwards.

Because of the person they forced you to become.

Difficulty is an up skilling opportunity disguised as a problem.

You versus your mind.

I see evidence of this all the time.

You wouldn’t believe how many people message me on social media with a dire-straits conundrum they’re facing in business.

The business is finished.

The cash has run out.

A customer has left.

A member of staff has caused chaos.

They’ve made a terrible decision.

Everything feels like it’s about to end.

And I often reply with something very simple:

“Write the challenge down and clearly articulate it on paper. Then list everything you could do to solve it.”

Suddenly it doesn’t look quite so terrifying.

It’s never as bad on paper as it is running around your head at 2am.

Half the battle is often you versus your own mind.

And like clockwork, I’ve had people come back to me 12 or 24 months later.

They’re still there.

The business is still there.

In many cases, they’re bigger and stronger than they were before.

And they thank me for the pep talk.

I didn’t solve their problem.

They solved their problem.

Writing it down simply helped them realise they could.

Walt had problems too.

Some of the world’s greatest brands are simply a collection of enormous ups and downs that somehow kept going.

Disney is a brilliant example.

Walt Disney had more comebacks than a Katie Price ITV2 series.

He faced failure after failure, but the bloke just kept going.

When Walt wanted to build Disneyland, plenty of people thought it was madness.

Banks were sceptical. People around him questioned the idea.

Another Mickey Mouse idea.

Incidentally, have you ever wondered why we describe something rubbish as a “Mickey Mouse outfit” when Mickey Mouse represents one of the most commercially successful entertainment businesses ever created?

Strange, isn’t it?

But Walt needed money.

Lots of it.

So he got unusual.

He found sponsors.

He struck commercial deals.

He partnered with television and used the medium to help promote Disneyland while simultaneously helping fund his ambitions.

Think about that.

Rather than simply buying advertising for his new theme park, he found ways to turn the story of what he was creating into entertainment.

Unusual asks create unusual thinking, which creates unusual solutions.

Around the same period, Disney’s Davy Crockett television phenomenon exploded.

Kids went bananas for coonskin caps and Davy Crockett merchandise.

Again and again throughout Walt Disney’s life, problems appeared that looked enormous.

And again and again, he found another way through.

He refused to allow the world around him to confine his ambition.

He was unusual.

And unusual paid off.

Use the difficulty.

That’s really what I’ve been pondering while I’ve been away.

We have to keep pushing.

Keep embracing the setbacks.

Keep using the difficulty.

Keep looking after the goose.

Keep doing the things most people aren’t prepared to do.

Because success is supposed to be difficult.

My business started with a balloon dog.

Walt’s started with a mouse.

Never underestimate what something small can become when the person behind it refuses to stop nurturing it.

We can all achieve more.

We can all become more.

We can all do more.

But it starts with good thinking.

It starts with how you speak to yourself when things aren’t going your way.

It starts with taking responsibility rather than looking for someone to blame.

It starts with doing the unusual things consistently while everyone else is doing the usual.

And remember this:

The diamonds you’re searching for are often right beneath your feet.

You might already be standing on the opportunity you’ve been searching for.

And the golden eggs you want tomorrow depend on how well you look after the geese you have today.

Be unusual.

Use the difficulty.

And look after your geese.

To your continued success,

James

P.S.