“If at first you don't succeed, find out if the loser gets anything.” – William Lyon Phelps, Born Jan. 2, 1865.
Finding success as a slacker has had a lot to do with figuring out how to plan things so that even if I don’t get the “Plan A” result, there is still a “Plan B” benefit.
If that live training promotion isn’t the hit you expected, the recording will still be a great long term product.
If that post didn’t get enough comments or likes, it can still make a good email for the autoresponder. Collect enough “underperforming” posts and you can compile them into a book. Or use them as topics for a podcast or video stream. Perhaps doing a post mortem case story on a failed product launch can itself be valuable content for your audience.
Look for how you can flip every loss into a win. The loser always gets SOMETHING.
And if you can make your losses profitable, too – well, losing sure doesn’t feel bad when you still make a nice living at it.
How to practically apply this? Consider every task you plan to put significant effort into.
Can you kill two birds with one stone?
Can you use the output for more than one purpose?
Can you make a template out of the process to streamline it the next time you do it?
Consider the possible outcomes. What is the so-so, better, best range of outcomes? Make a plan to leverage whatever successes there are.
Get into operating this way as a habit, and watch small actions begin to add up and compound. Small efforts yield exponential results and benefits.
And most importantly, slack remains intact.
Very inspirational piece. I post about my music and general “me-ness” on my business social media. Now I have new content stuff to write about. 🙂