The highs and lows of business

When things are good, they’re great.

When things are bad, they seem insurmountable.

Projects, careers, jobs, days, and years’ all experience highs and lows.

Moving to the next project at a high can seem like we had a success.

Ending a project when we’re at a low can seem like it was a failure.

Both situations may not be accurate. The result might be due to good, or poor, timing. The length of time in a project can determine success.

How long can you manage the highs and lows of your business?

The highs

The highs are fun. We’re killing it!

As we watch The Wolf of Wall Street, view Enron’s trajectory, or American Real Estate in the mid-2000s, the high is great. Everyone is making money. We’re living like rock stars.

If not managed, a crash follows. As with all three of these situations, you think nothing bad can happen. Then, the bad happens.

We glorify the highs with excess. Not management and preparation for sustainable growth. Sustainability for when the things begin to turn.

This is when we hit the lows.

The lows

Rising up from nothing is the American Dream. As an American, I love the story of the person who rose up when all odds were against them.

What happens is managing a low situation. This can also happen in our sales, marketing, and business.

A time where nothing works. The key is managing this period until the next high. Where we begin killing it again.

The lows happen to all of us. What I find difficult, is when your lows are coming at the time of another person’s highs.

For example, missing quota while colleagues are crushing it. Attending the sales meeting is not easy. Next quarter, though, the tables might be turned. It is merely a low before the next high.

At this point, maintaining the courage and motivation to continue is the only option. Moving forward when nothing seems to work.

The highs and lows of business

Managing the highs means we continue looking for new opportunities. Maintain the process that got us to the high. Hopefully, mitigating the damage of the lows.

When we hit the low, managing and continuing to the next high is the only path forward. If the past can provide any indicator to the future, we know there is a high on the horizon.

The question is: how do we get there?

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