At this time of year, we are having a lot of discussions with clients about how to kick things off. This is always topical for our January and early February conversations. But this year it has the undertone of “2024 was really tough. How do we all pick ourselves up from that and get going”. It feels a bit like the team talk halfway through a match and we’re down on points and taking a beating. How do we get up and smash the result? Let’s draw inspiration from the world of sports:
- Focus on the next hole. Lydia Ko talks about how being a winner in golf requires the mental discipline to focus on the next hole rather than getting stuck in rumination and self-recrimination about what happened at the last hole. 2024 was tough no doubt, and that topic has sucked up enough of our energy. Time to put the focus on 2025.
- Train hard fight easy. In the world of combat sport it’s well understood that the harder you train the easier you will find it come fight night. We can consider 2024 to be a tough training camp for the main event of 2025. We’ve taken the lumps and are now battle hardened and ready to go. It’s also not a bad idea to make sure your team is well trained, have drilled, role played, and practiced key customer interactions.
- Stay in your lane. When Ian Thorpe was lining up at an Olympic final, he was very aware that while there are 8 lanes in the race, he has control over exactly one of them. So, stay in your lane – be obsessive about putting your focus only on those things within your sphere of influence and control. Notice what is happening in the market and adjust accordingly. But spending time engaged in philosophising about how things “should” be, or what’s unfair or unfortunate tends to be a waste of time and energy. Energy that can be put into activity that will move the needle.
- Improve by 5%. Back to combat sports. When a grappler is pinned down by a skilled opponent escape can feel impossible. That’s why “can I escape” is a question that leads to despair. Instead, the experienced grappler will ask “how can I improve my position by 5%”. It’s a question that presupposes improvement is possible and focuses you on what can be done rather than what cannot. Find the incremental improvements in your sales rhythm that will lead to small gains. Because small gains create momentum, and momentum leads to big gains.
So, as we run back out onto the pitch for 2025, let’s leave 2024 in the locker room, make sure the captain and the team are aligned and keep driving the ball up the pitch.
