What is Bradley’s “log of lessons learned?” He keeps a note on his phone all year to capture lessons as he learns them. Watch this quick video to learn his top 8 takeaways from ownership, entrepreneurship, and leadership this year.
Bradley’s 2022 Log of Lessons Learned
Do you keep a journal, private email, personal slack thread, or some other way to “send” yourself thoughts and lessons throughout the year? Bradley does this in his notes app.
#1 Success is Not Determined by What I Know, but How Fast I Learn.
Some people say it’s not what you know, but who you know. I think it is who and what you choose to learn from. This means curating the right people, books, podcasts, and other resources around me to determine what I learn. This could be around any kind of topic, but the value is in how fast I can learn and adapt in my business.
#2 My Self Worth Is Not The Same as My Net Worth
I had a few experiences this year that reminded me of the fact that my net worth will fluctuate. However, my self worth doesn’t need to be tied to it. The ups and downs of entrepreneurship will force you to remember this in any season, and it’s important to come to terms with the difference.
#3. A Focused Fool Can Accomplish More Than A Distracted Genius.
You can be the most brilliant person on the earth, but if you are constantly distracted and doing many things at once, you won’t accomplish much. Conversely, if you are a foolish person, maybe you aren’t even that bright, but you stay focused one thing for a long time, you can accomplish many goals. The bottom line here? Singular Focus on one thing over a long period of time is more effective than raw intelligence, talent, or skill.
#4. Five Miles In, Five Miles Out.
If something in business is not where you want it to be, it may take you as long to change it as it did to create it. For example, you may have slowly allowed your workplace culture to decline over the last 5 years. While we all hope it takes less time to correct a problem, more often than not it will take a similar amount of time to backtrack and correct the issues.
I think of it like this. When I go duck hunting in the fall, we walk about 1.5 miles into the wilderness to get to a good spot. It never feels like it takes very much time when we are starting our day. However, after we finish the hunt, it feels like a much longer trek back. The reality is that it is the same distance over the same terrain. However, working your way back always seems more difficult.
We may rush headlong into something in our businesses, but if it was a bad decision or simply not a good fit, it is going to feel more difficult to backtrack. When your expectations are realistic, this process will be more manageable.
#5. Not All Progress Can Be Measured by Ground Gained.
When we look at progress during a game of baseball, points are scored with more than just home runs. Even a bunt will allow the team to run bases. In business, a bunt can look like maintaining your business during a difficult year. Sometimes, it is simply minimizing loss. Because business growth isn’t linear, you cannot look at just year over year progress. Business success is a marathon, and a win is a win.
#6. My Identity Is Not In Business Success Or Business Failure.
My identity is not in business success or in business failure. You may have had setbacks this year in business. However, this isn’t your identity. It’s just what your business did this year.
#7. Far Too Often I Dramatically Underestimate The Amount of Effort It Takes To Be Successful.
I talk about the big picture of how challenging business is, however I don’t apply it to single projects. It’s easy to get excited about a project and think that it will be fast and easy. Ask my creative team – anytime I say “It shouldn’t take too long to do xyz,” I am wrong. I constantly underestimate how much time and effort something will take. It will serve me better to overestimate the time and effort needed in this coming year so that timelines remain intact.
#8. No Matter How Far Down The Road You Are, You Are Still The Same Distance From The Ditch.
This has stuck with me more than any other this year. You can be grateful without becoming complacent. Remember, no matter how far you’ve gone, there is still work to do, and pitfalls are just a few feet off the road.
Grow Your Leadership
Bradley has many resources to grow your leadership in the area of vision and priorities. Check out a few of them:
Get Bradley’s favorite books of 2022 and why he recommends them to business owners. Keep reading…
Employee turnover can be just as – if not more – expensive than smashing Rolexes. Watch the quick training or click reading more to learn how. Keep reading…
It’s difficult to get to your destination if you aren’t sure where you currently are! After all, the path from Minnesota to Canada is very different than the path from Mexico to Canada. If you aren’t certain where you’re at today in business, you need to take the Rainmaker to Architect assessment. It will gauge your strengths and weaknesses as a leader and in your business. Then, you’ll get detailed, specific suggestions for improvement. Take the assessment here.