Your quarterly sales blew the roof off. Customers are singing your praises. Your employee satisfaction survey came back with glowing reports. You broke 85 on the golf course yesterday.
Some free advice. Don’t get too excited and definitely don’t pop the champagne open. Just settle down. Tamp down any celebration and act like you have been there before.
Why? Because no matter how well things are going this year, this month, this week or even today, remember that circumstances can change in the blink of an eye. There is always something else.
In football, they call it a trap game. Your favorite college football team is rolling along with an undefeated season. They just beat the best team in the conference. The following week they are scheduled to play an average squad, and everyone expects an easy win but instead the overlooked weaker opponent overcomes the odds and delivers a shocking upset.
When I used to coach high school football, my players thought it was odd that I discouraged celebration for sparkling plays before the game was over. But I had seen a pattern of self-satisfaction after a successful play followed by a let down and was determined to break it.
Success does not repeat itself from sheer inertia. In fact, to reach the next level of achievement takes more effort and focus.
There are no breaks and no gimmies. It’s one of the hardest life lessons for humans to learn. No one is giving your business a pass because of what happened last quarter, last month or even what happened this morning. I know that we all have experienced this phenomenon in our business lives and yet we tend to let our guard down and experience our own trap games.
When you have success, go ahead and whisper yay to yourself but keep your foot on the gas pedal. Go harder at your next goal and don’t let the momentary glow of triumph stop your momentum.
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