Stop flying into the window
Eight weeks ago, my wife went in for what was supposed to be a relatively routine operation on her knee to repair some damage.
Nothing too major. Keyhole surgery. In and out of the hospital within the day. 4-6 weeks recovery, walking as soon as two weeks post surgery.
Just before she went under, her anesthesiologist said he recommended she have a nerve block to help with the immediate post-surgery pain and nonchalantly played down the risk of the nerve block going wrong.
Just the usual risk. You’ll be fine…
Of course, Amy was all up for it. Low risk, less pain. Happy to sign on the dotted line.
The surgery went well. But the nerve blocker didn’t wear off. Her leg stayed numb for days after the surgery.
Then she started experiencing sharp stabbing pains from her thigh down to her heel.
After numerous visits to the surgeon, her physio and the GP, it looks like the worst-case scenario actually happened.
It seems the nerve blocker punctured and damaged a major nerve in her leg resulting in loss of feeling and at times 10/10 pain sensations, delaying recovery, causing her to lose sleep and all ability to live a normal life.
During this past eight weeks I’ve taken on board all the tasks that keep our family and home running like clockwork that my wife usually would.
All the things that take up so much time and energy that just when you’re ready to sit down to get some solid work done, it’s time to start over again.
Meals, cleaning, washing, playing with the kids, walking the dog, taking the kids to kindy, school events, friends houses. Medical appointments, grocery shopping, running other erands. The works.
Plus, be her full time carer. Helping her manage this roadblock we’re faced with.
When I reflect on the situation though, I’m not surprised. Nor am I stressed.
Why?
Because shit always happens. That’s life. (And business)
We can plan all we like, but the universe has its own way of reminding us we’re never fully in control.
All we can do is play the game with the cards we’re dealt.
I find my mind makes the most sense of things when I relate life to a game. We have one ‘life’, levels to conquer and a whole host of challenges along the way.
So how do you play the game to win?
You stack the deck in your favour. Here’s how:
1. Expect the unexpected
If you know it’s going to rain today, you bring an umbrella with you when you go out, right?
In business, you need to do the same.
By having the default mindset that one day shit will hit the fan, you’re already part of the way prepared to deal with it.
2. Design your life and business so the house doesn’t come down if a card falls
I haven’t managed to work on my ecom businesses much in the eight weeks since my wife’s surgery. Yet, revenue and profit increased (a lot actually) and projects remained on track. Our accounts administrator even went on mat leave and had a beautiful baby girl.
No, my personal brand business hasn’t had the attention I would have liked to have given it. The pace has slowed (fewer social posts, limited newsletters sent out and the program I’m working on not quite yet ready yet)…
But that can wait. My main source of cash flow (my ecommerce business) kept running and growing without me.
But it’s not as if this is a short term test of ‘how long can things stay afloat without Matthew around’… this is normal for my business.
My role is to work closely with my Chief Operating Officer to guide the ship and help her navigate towards our goals.
I’m not needed for customer support queries, sales calls, accounting questions or supplier orders. My team and the system my business runs on handle it all.
From time to time I’ll become more involved for larger projects. But mostly it’s in the hands of my COO.
3. Invest in people
Because no system runs without the right humans behind it.
I can step back because my COO steps up.
I trust her to run the show because I’ve built the framework and given her ownership.
That’s the real leverage. It’s not automations. It’s alignment.
Stop flying into the window
If you’re not ready and prepared for the unexpected and if you haven’t got the systems in place for when shit hits the fan, don’t keep doing the same thing and expecting a different result.
It’s like a fly desperately trying to get out of a closed window from inside your home. Buzzing as hard as it can, smashing against the window again and again and again…
No matter how hard and fast it tries to get to the outside world, it’s never going to get through that glass window.
The solution isn’t to work harder. It’s to do something different.
If that fly flew to the right for just ten seconds, it’d realise there’s an open door.
Instead, it’ll work itself to death.
The open door
Here’s the thing… there’s always an open door.
Most founders just can’t see it because they’re too busy smashing into the glass.
The details aren’t fully fleshed out yet, but the core idea is for you to get out of the weeds and build a profit engine that grows without you.
You’ll learn how to build real leverage across three key stages — team, growth, and profit — so you can build a business that runs and scales without you.