We have all been there. Waiting at home for a delivery that might arrive between 9 to 5 or holding off on making calls because a builder, doctor or banker was suppose to call at a particular time.
The delivery is “on its way” so you hover near the door and start hearing the sound of passing trucks. Every noise outside could be the one and any minute could be the moment but it never is.
Or maybe you’re waiting for a call and you keep your phone glued to your hand because you know the law that they will only call the second you call someone else, step away, take a shower or start a Zoom meeting that actually matters.
Hours go by and nothing. No ring or knock but just silence and a strange sense of loyalty to people who do not even know you are waiting and worse we convince ourselves it is smart, responsible and organised.
Businesses fall into the same trap of waiting for the right moment, the right person, the ideal conditions, the perfect client, etc. We call it strategy and pause decisions until we have sorted this or that but more often, it’s not caution but it is hesitation holding progress back.
As accountants and mortgage brokers, we are the worst of the worst but we surely are in good company. 🤣🤣🤣
The builder who keeps doing all the work and tells him/herself that it is too early to hire, yet they are already slow to return quotes and the better jobs are going to someone else who replied first.
The cafe owner who is on the console, juggling UberEats on the iPad, doing payroll between coffees and saying “Once it settles down, I will bring in help.” It never settles down and the only thing that does is their energy.
The gym owner who’s working from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. because they’re “not ready to trust someone else with clients.” This is another way of saying “I would rather burn out personally than risk being mildly inconvenienced by delegation.”
The physio who is booked out three weeks in advance and says “I don’t want to bring in another physio until I have documented every single process properly and trained them properly, otherwise it will be chaos.” Meanwhile, new patients are told “sorry we’re full” and they go down the road. So we have lost revenue in the name of theoretical order.
We love to tell ourselves we’re waiting for readiness, but readiness is just a polite word for fear of losing control, fear of mistakes and fear of change.
So stop living in standby mode and make the call, send the email and take the next step. The delivery, the callback and the perfect timing, they will catch up as they always do!!!