Basketball is a game of runs–and business can be to. Knowing this is critical. Why?
Because not all runs are of good luck. There are days when just everything goes wrong and then keeps going wrong. And how you deal with those tough days, how well you can keep your cool, is ultimately what separates successful from unsuccessful players. Composure.
We see it in sports—a referee makes a bad call and then another, and then the other team makes a couple of shots. That’s when a player gets frustrated and yells at the ref, the other team, or maybe even a teammate. So then the player gets a technical, or even gets ejected from the game, and that helps his or her team how? It doesn’t help at all, that’s how.
The passion is admirable, but using it to throw a temper-tantrum is not. Sure, in the heat of the moment sometimes we lose our cool. It happens. But if you keep your composure and keep plugging away (take deep breathes from time to time), things may turn around for you. Maybe they won’t, but at least you gave yourself a chance. That’s a lot better than shooting yourself in the foot and probably losing the respect of others.
A run doesn’t last forever. Even if you do everything right, they’ll be weeks when you lose five business deals in a row. But you know that, just by the law of averages, your luck will turn around if you keep doing good work.
So, say you are beyond frustrated. Nothing is going your way and you’re ready to throw your computer out the window or slam your phone on the ground–but this is what can take you to another level. Keep your composure and succeed.
photo credit: John Wall via photopin (license)