The business world offers a virtually limitless array of opportunities and, consequently, challenges. There is always something more you could know about how to achieve your business goals – even the masters (especially the masters) are still always learning more about how they can achieve ever greater success. There’s an important takeaway from that knowledge – there isn’t anybody in business who is already perfect. Everybody has screwed up a couple of times.
You probably already know all that, so why am I bringing it up? Because psychology matters, in business as in everything else, You can’t let yourself get discouraged because you’re not doing everything perfectly every time. Sure, it’d be great to be perfect, but you don’t have to be perfect to succeed – you just have to be better than your competitors. In fact, you don’t even need to be better than all of your competitors – you just need to be better than enough of them to achieve success. You can’t know what your competitors are up to, not all of it. It’s human nature to assume that they’re doing the same things you are, and think the same way you do. But they aren’t, and they don’t. And they’re as likely to make a mistake as you are – absolutely none of which you have any control over.
So instead of worrying about being perfect, or fretting about what your competitors are doing, simply accept that your goal is to beat the average, and strive to run the best business that you can. Be proactive rather than reactive. Take reasonable precautions to guard against likely threats to your business. If you have questions, don’t be afraid to ask for help from those with more experience. Above all else, focus on delivering the best product and the best service that you can. If you have a universally needed product and offer quality service, you’ll be giving yourself what you need to stay ahead of the curve – and ahead of your competitors.
