A Letter from Chris Suarez
PRESS THE GAS. PRESS THE BRAKE.
Just don’t slam on either of those pedals. I received a bit of foreshadowing of what teaching my daughter to drive might look like in a few years as I let her drive our four wheeler this weekend around the property. Don’t worry, there were no accidents, but it definitely was an experience. We narrowly avoided the trout pond, almost took out a row of grape vines, definitely injured a fir tree, and may or may not have backed into a neighbor's fence.
As we parked the four wheeler at the barn and walked back up to the house (my daughters face beaming and mine probably slowly getting it’s color back), I couldn’t help but see the incredible parallel for each of us as we point our business in the direction of 2020.
Slamming either of those pedals on your vehicle will not serve you well. The speeding up and screeching to a halt is uncomfortable for the driver and passenger, and it isn’t healthy for the vehicle either.
Slamming on the gas causes a chain reaction of expensive components to slam into each other. The pistons slam the connecting rods. The connecting rods slam against the crankshaft. The crankshaft slams the transmission. Any and all of these components can break down unexpectedly if the gas pedal is not managed appropriately.
The same is true of our business. Too often we press the pedal to floor at the start of the week, or the start of the month, and most definitely the start of the year. We go from zero to sixty overnight. Why? Well we want to get a great start to the year, to the month, to the week, or to morning. But testing how quickly you can go from zero to sixty too often will cause you to break down unexpectedly. Our business speed too often reflects our immediate energy level or our in-the-moment motivation. In effect, we slam on the gas anytime we get motivated to get work done, or feel an increased need to be productive. We slam on the gas when we are behind and have ground to make up. We slam on the gas when we feel under pressure to perform. Too often we decide to “make up for lost time”, or more appropriately, we decide to “make up for wasted time”, by kicking it into high gear and just working longer hours, working harder, working faster. If not careful, our mind and body will meet the same fortune as our vehicle’s transmission - burnout. Sure, we can get away with doing that once or twice a year. But if we develop this habit, our business will break down, just like a vehicle would. And as a side note, our bodies will break down as well.
Slamming on the brakes of our vehicle however is no better. First, it increases your fuel consumption every time you do so and it causes premature deterioration of your brake pads and rotors.
The same is true of our business. By testing how quickly you can go from sixty to zero, we actually wind up using more energy than we would if we just maintained a consistent rhythm and speed to our activities and our schedule. We have been led to believe that we need to just completely unplug and disconnect from work - in effect slam on the brakes. But be warned, by going from high speed to no speed sporadically throughout your month or year, it will drain your energy level, it will distract your focus, and cause a premature deterioration of your goals.
Building a consistent business, a business that runs smoothly, will take some getting used to the gas and brake pedal. After all, if you remember back to when you first learned to drive, or even anytime you first step into a new vehicle, it takes a bit of practice to be comfortable with the pressure needed for both the gas pedal and the brake pedal. We often times overcompensate the force needed to speed up and to slow down the vehicle initially. As our comfort level increases we can manage a more consistent speed, and adapt for changes in road condition.
Especially when new at driving we tend to push way too hard on the gas, only to take our foot off of that pedal, and slam it down on the brake pedal. Believe me, my back and neck experienced that this weekend with a child driver.
The same is true when operating a business, especially when we are new at it. We can tend to go all out, energy high, as if we are taking off at the upcoming Daytona 500 this coming February. And then when we get tired, feel overwhelmed, or just hit exhaustion, we slam on the brakes. We hit that point that we are convinced we need to get away, to unplug, to disconnect. And our business winds up coming to a full stop. A screeching halt. Unknowingly, we build a habit of going from zero to sixty and sixty to zero and back to sixty again. The inconsistency of the business is uncomfortable and unhealthy for us, for our people, and for those around us. We self-create cyclical results in our business and decide to blame it on the seasons, the markets, or our customers.
So go ahead. Press down on the gas pedal. When needed, press down on the brake pedal. Just don’t slam either of them. You’ll be building a consistent business. Your revenue streams will be forecastable. Your energy level will be maintainable. You will create personal and business longevity. And in the process you’ll avoid the trout ponds, the grape vines, the fir trees, the neighbor’s fence, and a sore neck.
Chris
