Maybe we're focused on the wrong thing...

I'm fascinated with Tom Brady. Not because he's Michigan (though that doesn't hurt...), but because his ability to mentally push himself and to continue to improve as he ages is one of the most impressive things I've witnessed in my life.

I read It's Better to be Feared by Seth Wickersham in December, and learned how hard Brady works on his mental conditioning. How he almost quit in college, because he was only getting 4 reps a practice. His mentor said to him "who fucking cares! Take those 4 reps and make them the best 4 reps of your life. Turn them into 8 reps. And then 20, and keep developing."

We all know how that story goes, he's been in the league for 22 years and continues to dominate.

The ESPN series Man in the Arena is the story of his career in New England, and in the final episode he tells the parable of the Chinese Farmer.

Once upon a time there was a Chinese farmer whose horse ran away. That evening, all of his neighbors came around to commiserate. They said, “We are so sorry to hear your horse has run away. This is most unfortunate.” The farmer said, “Maybe.” The next day the horse came back bringing seven wild horses with it, and in the evening everybody came back and said, “Oh, isn’t that lucky. What a great turn of events. You now have eight horses!” The farmer again said, “Maybe.”

The following day his son tried to break one of the horses, and while riding it, he was thrown and broke his leg. The neighbors then said, “Oh dear, that’s too bad,” and the farmer responded, “Maybe.” The next day the conscription officers came around to conscript people into the army, and they rejected his son because he had a broken leg. Again all the neighbors came around and said, “Isn’t that great!” Again, he said, “Maybe.”

The whole process of nature is an integrated process of immense complexity, and it’s really impossible to tell whether anything that happens in it is good or bad — because you never know what will be the consequence of the misfortune; or, you never know what will be the consequences of good fortune.

— Alan Watts retelling the parable

That parable has me thinking about how frequently we determine the meaning of a result when we truly don't know. Especially as business owners and entrepreneurs.

We fail to land a big client and our internal response is that we are disappointed, angry. But maybe not landing that client was a blessing because something greater and more meaningful is coming our way. Maybe.

We can't get that big guest we want on our podcast. We're frustrated and possibly envious of someone who is getting big name guests. But what if not getting that big guest forces us to go with smaller name guests who now have the chance to showcase their business? What if we land on a partnership that we wouldn't have found had we bypassed all those other guests? Maybe.

Our revenue isn't growing as quickly as we would like. We consider ourselves a failure. We think about quitting. But what if the reason our revenue isn't growing is because our services need just a degree of tweaking, and that degree leads us to something far greater than we could have ever imagined? Maybe.

What would it mean to our outlook and our future if we stopped assigning outcomes and just said "maybe"...

Tom Brady has said maybe throughout his entire career. Losing a super bowl sucks. Maybe. But it's also an opportunity to look at what wasn't working and make improvements that result in you winning more. Leaving the only team you ever played for is sad and really hard. Maybe. But it's also an opportunity to....

Maybe.

Turn those 4 reps into something SO MUCH BIGGER!