One month was good. The other bad. The other, so-so. The market heated up. The market stopped.
These are phrases that ring insistently in the minds of businessmen, entrepreneurs and executives who depend on sales.
Only those who need to sell to pay the bills and keep things afloat, know what it is like to have an idle market, an empty shop, a restaurant without customers, an agency without jobs, a consultancy without business meetings and so on.
But there is another component that "catches" sales. Relaxation.
It's natural, after a very intense fight, to take your foot off.
I say intense, because in recent years, it has been very difficult for any businessman to put into practice investment projects, improvements and in some segments, even to keep the lights on.
This affects the internal structures of organisations, since the historical volatility we are going through affects everyone. The pressure, instability and insecurity are not restricted to the command but to the whole hierarchical structure.
When you see your colleague being laid off due to lack of revenue in the company, shrinking turnover, there is no way to rest easy imagining that your island of excellence is untouchable.
Anyway, the oscillation hits everyone. Literally we are in the same boat.
Now, what does relaxation have to do with all this?
When you work in that kind of environment for years, with anxiety up there all the time, walking on a razor's edge, it's natural to relax after a good month or a good quarter.
In light of our objectives of entrepreneurship, growth and value creation, we generally receive, on a daily basis, 2 good news items for every 5 bad ones. This is our perception.
But the reality in our business world is translated into numbers.
The bills don't stop, they don't wait for the strike to pass, or the election, or the World Cup. The accounts payable are certain and relentless. Revenues, on the other hand, have layers and layers of risk and are uncertain.
This is the Brazilian reality.
And we live in a psychological pendulum, good month, bad month, terrible month, so-so month, bad month, so-so month again and so the years go by.
When you finish a good period where you have at least managed to pay your bills on time, where the balance has somehow come out of the red and breathed above the line it is natural for you to relax.
Your mind needs it. You can't get out of bed, with the thought that despite the food in the oven, you still have to kill 3 lions today.
A mental truce is needed. You have to believe that now it's going to go.
And this is where we fall into the trap of relaxation.
This relaxation makes our guard down, either in allowing new, previously dammed up costs, or in cooling their sales effort.
I say this for those in the business.
For those who have not yet entered the market for real, my only advice is not to fall into fads.
There is no magic button to compete in the market. Just a lot of strategy and work. But a lot of work, my friend. A lot.
So don't call it work. It's a lifestyle.
The result comes in your bank balance. If you are competent and don't relax, at least don't let your guard down, even if you break turnover records, you will have a good life financially speaking.
Our life is not a predictable curve, despite all our effort and desire for it to be. Much less our revenues, if we are from private enterprise.
Owners and employees serve the same master, the market. Each in their own role, but both are subject to the sieve of buying and selling.
Never relax is a fallacy, it is counter intuitive and a fanciful maxim.
But being aware is enough.
A "good" month instead of being considered a good month, should be considered the first month of a new plateau. The first step of 5 that you will reach.
Yes, it is possible. What got you to the good month most of the time was your effort, your tenacity, insistence and vigour.
It's great that you know you have these features and that you have an unlimited repository of them, even though they would have us believe otherwise.
We have much more competence than we imagine, we have much more focus, much more strength and much more persistence. We are much better than we imagine ourselves to be.
You just have to believe in it and use those attributes not only in the storm, but especially in the bonanza.
A new belief, especially in yourself, is the first step. Belief that we can do more and better, always. Relax a little, yes. But quickly lift your guard and keep going.
This perpetual moto brings us closer to ourselves and to the best version of ourselves.
After all, we are the market.
