Crisis or problem situations: Either you have a crisis or you have a problem

So how do you handle that?

What I’d like to discuss with you this time is the following quote: “In a business, you either have a crisis, or you have problems.” And that’s interesting, because when you start a business or are an entrepreneur, you have to make sure your business grows. That doesn’t necessarily mean growing in terms of size—more people or more revenue. It doesn’t have to, but of course it can if that’s what you want. But—that means you’re going to run into problems.

Problems in the sense that you don't know a lot of things yet. Because if you know it, then it's not a problem. Then it has become a fact and you can start solving it. Problems often arise because you don't know things. You can and then you have problems and you solve them and that's how you build on. Sometimes you have a crisis. Then things go really bad and it may be do or die.

Responsibility

For me personally, starting my own business is definitely the biggest personal development project. I run a hypnosis institute, so that’s about personal development, but actually, building and managing the business is the biggest personal development journey for me. More than all those courses combined. I can recommend it to everyone. I don’t know if everyone would want to do it—I don’t think so.

But I would recommend doing this alongside your job. That way, you ’ll become aware of your responsibilities . I’m sometimes surprised by how some entrepreneurs say things like, “Yeah, there’s nothing I can do about it—it’s the market, the economy, the government, the products, the people.” And then I think: Well, that may be true… But you’re not a tree.

"If you don't like where you are, move! You're not a tree." Jim Rohan

You can just change locations. You can create or purchase a different product or whatever. But that's tricky though! Because, if it's going well all the time and suddenly it's not going well and something has to change... That's intense. Crisis time. But great, because if you create success or something succeeds, then you did it! If something doesn't succeed and things aren't going well, you did it. And yes that can be tough.

Sometimes you get hit hard on the facts. That you don't know something or that something isn't going well. That can hurt. Then again, you did that yourself. Or made it happen yourself. And I think it's important when you have a business that you grow it to the next stage. Not necessarily in size, but to some kind of maturity.

I-BV

Maybe you're reading this and thinking, "Yeah, Ed, I don't have a business at all.You might also look that way in your own life, your ' I-Corporation'.

You start out as a baby, then you become a toddler, and then a preschooler. Those first 3–4 years go by pretty fast. A lot of things hinge on that period. You have to learn a lot of skills—really, an enormous amount. It’s just like a business. During the first 3 to 4 years, you have to learn a lot about how it works. Then you’re in elementary school and learn the basics. After that, you move on to middle school. Maybe you’ll go to college. And by then, you’re supposed to have grown up. Some people never do…

You see the same with companies. Some companies never mature. They never go to the next level. And what is the next level? Becoming mature. And what is mature? Realizing that you can't and don't have to do it all by yourself. When you are little you have to do quite a lot of things on your own, you have to learn a lot of skills on your own.

Will you pass the exams for me?

You need to pass your exam, you can hardly let someone else pass the exam for you. Would be cool, wouldn't it? With a test it might be possible, but with an exam you have to do it yourself. You have to shine yourself, you know?

So it is not absolutely necessary in life, but people take that mindset with them!

'Yes but, I have to take that exam.' 'I have to do it well...'While some at the exam got a 10 and you got a 6, the one who can do that well so well, they might be able to work for you. And you might work for that one! It is also possible. You have other qualities.

This also has to do with growing up. Kind of looking around you of "Hey, who is really much better than me? Beyond your own idea of I have to do everything myself, because that's actually how you were unconsciously taught in school. You had to do it all yourself. Instead of them saying on an exam:

'Well guys, we're going to take the exam together, Harry you're good at math so you make those assignments. Bep, you're good at biology, you do that, you do this and you do that, we'll all do a piece and get an average of 9!'

Well, great! But yes, unfortunately it doesn't work that way. In essence, that's strange when you think about it. What does it really represent such an exam? At that moment it is a kind of benchmark. At that moment, you knew that material. You had memorized it well for an hour, and you are judged on that.

Of course, you have a certain intelligence when you go through that whole process. Okay, nice, but that has to do with IQ and nothing else. So yes, a lot of things are left out that are also important to test, measure, and include. But anyway, then this blog might become 3 hours long if we go into that... ;-)

Delegate

So at some point, you have to move past that. Past the idea that “I have to do everything myself.” Because you can’t possibly do everything on your own. Then you enter the next phase: Do you really trust people?

When you see that things are going well, you need to start managing, and you need other skills and abilities to continue. Or delegate. And at some point, of course, you also have to have a certain vision, if you haven't already started with that, with the main question being, "Where are we going?The rest suddenly follows you. Again, you have to be able to stand that. Do you enjoy taking on that role of leader?

Some people find that difficult. Even in their own lives. If you reason it back, you are a follower all your life. You are almost unconsciously created that way. Many people therefore find it difficult to develop a vision. "Where do I really want to go?" "What do I think is important? What do I want to get out of life?" "What do I want to achieve?

Vision

And gather around that vision people who share that vision and realize it for you, or with you. That's a whole different way of thinking. There are plenty of people who want to realize your vision together with you. And especially if it is also their vision.

I think a good leader knows his vision, with a good story. This is what we want to achieve, this is where we want to go. Even beyond goal setting. What is your legacy? When you die, what do you want to leave behind? If you start with that. For example, think about, "What do you want others to say at your funeral?That may be a little extreme, but that way you can figure out what you want other people to say about you. Then you have a vision. Then to reason back how and what you can implement now to get out of that.

Take the end in mind and go back. Then some of the things you do now may be irrelevant. And some things become very relevant. That you may not be doing yet or are already doing. Then you can make much easier choices in where you want to go.

Maybe that includes your own business, it could be. Maybe not at all. Maybe that includes that you want to go to the gym after all. Maybe you want to start eating right now. Things that you might be putting off doing now are things you do now anyway.

Take your own responsibility in this. I also see my own body as my own limited liability company, my I-BV. My mind owns my body. My body is my business, and I want to keep it whole for as long as possible. I put good food in there, I do good things with that, I train well, I sleep well, I eat well. As well as I can, lol. I know when I'm doing good and not so good.

In Chinese, the symbols are the same for both the word

'Crisis', as the word 'opportunity'.

Think of your own life as a business. Your own business with sometimes a crisis. Sometimes you lose people, your relationship is over, the kids may be doing poorly for a while... Then you are in a crisis. And if you don't have a crisis, then sometimes you experience problems. But gradually those problems become less, or different.

So it's always an opportunity.

In Chinese, the symbols are the same for both the word "crisis," and the word "opportunity.

So there is always an opportunity in a crisis situation. ;-)

Good luck!

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