What do star quarterbacks, snow days, Navy Seals, and your future success all have in common? NOT being comfortable in the cold, although that probably wouldn't hurt. OPTIONS!
Two nights ago we had some snow. Some people think of just fun on snow days. Well, as a business owner, fun isn't often high on the list of priorities on a snow day. We have to decide if, or when, we will open. The first step is getting there.
I don't recall my dad ever missing a day of work due to weather conditions. What I do remember is him often parking his car at the front of the neighborhood the night before any potential snow. Why? Well, there was a hill with a sharp turn between the house and the main road that was hard, and sometimes impossible, to navigates when the roads got slick. My dad had a commitment to do his job, slick roads or not. Parking at the front of the neighborhood gave my dad the OPTION to go to work. Was he a more talented driver than everybody else? No. He just prepared and gave himself more options. Now, they may have closed the office due to weather from time to time but if it was open, he kept his options open by choosing to park a 1/2 mile from home.
So, yesterday, in the snow, it got me thinking. Some people would just leave their cars in their driveways and limit their options the next day. Some people plan ahead and do the necessary preparation to ensure they have options, regardless of what the weather does. Leaving my neighborhood, I saw some cars parked away from homes so they would have options and I saw some cars stuck because they hadn't prepared and, consequently, had no options. This is true every day of the year, too, not just on snow days.
Good quarterbacks go to the line of scrimmage knowing, and having practiced, various options of the play they just called. They survey the defense and choose the best option. The option most likely to bring success. Sometimes this is a second or third receiver and sometimes this is a completely different play (an audible). What if the quarterback called a play and had no options? He just went to the line and ran the play regardless of the defensive setup. If the quarterbacks are of equal talent, which will have greater success over time? The one with options or the one that doesn't have options?
Navy Seals rely on options to successfully execute a mission and to survive. Sure, they have a plan of attack but a mission rarely goes exactly to plan. The bad guys may have weapons that weren't anticipated. There may be more of them or they may not be where the Seals expect expected them to be. Their success and survival is dependent on having effective options.
So, how can this apply to us? Simple things. As the previous blog post said, we can back into parking spots so that if it snows, it's easier to pull out. We can go to college because that will open up options for careers later in life. We can put money into savings so that when opportunities arise, we have the option to take advantage of them. We can do our job well where we are so our boss may offer us options of advancement.
The best options seem to come from planning and preparation. If we wait till the snow has fallen to work on our options for transportation, we probably won't have as good of options as if we had planned the night before. If we wait till the job we want is available to get the college education, we might not have the option to pursue that opportunity. If we wait till we see an investment we would like to put $$ into before we save our $$, we will miss that opportunity. But, if we start now, plan for our future, we can create the options we want. Get that education, save the $$, and park the car where the weather won't limit our opportunity to succeed.
Often, those that are succeeding are those that have prepared the best options to choose from.
