A lesson from Rust Belt Business Law owner, Adam Williams
Earlier this year, I noticed a few people on my team struggling to make big decisions. They did a great job with the easy stuff — like choosing which chips we should have in the office kitchen. But faced with a question like, "Which video editing company should we use, Business A or Business B?" they froze up. Instead of making the tough call, they found an excuse to procrastinate and move the decision to the bottom of their to-do list.
I'm a go-go-go kind of guy, and this started driving me crazy. So, we doubled down on training to solve that problem. We also introduced a new discussion strategy we call "ANDing."
ANDing is a shortcut that helps us avoid procrastination. Picture this. We're in a meeting, and someone from marketing says, "We either have to spend this money on Facebook ads or Google Pay-Per-Click." It's time to start ANDing. I quickly jump in with, "Okay, but why not both? What would happen if we tried Facebook AND Google?"
Swapping in "and" for "or" pushes the team to think creatively, and if we can make the "and" option work, we can avoid a decision altogether. This is huge because when you eliminate decisions, you eliminate opportunities for procrastination. (This is also part of why delegating is so important, but that's a story for another newsletter.)
I love ANDing because business owners like us can't afford to procrastinate. Every second we waste putting off important decisions or shoving problems under the rug is a second we could have spent working toward our goals for Q2, 2023, 2025, and beyond.
This hit me like a 10-ton truck last December when I turned 40. All of the anxiety, pressure, and impatience of that milestone birthday crashed down at once. I thought, "I'm 40 today, but in a blink, I'll be 45, and then I'll be 50 — with my life more than halfway gone. I'd better hurry up!"
If you're not already in that hustle mindset, pick up a copy of "Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals" by Oliver Burkeman. You'll change your mind after a few chapters. "Four Thousand Weeks'' doesn't sugar-coat the truth. Burkeman says it straight out: If you live to be 80 years old, you only have 4,000 weeks to accomplish everything you want to do in life. Can you feel the clock ticking now?
You must take the word "procrastination" out of your vocabulary to achieve your goals. You can't afford to shelve those big decisions for a few weeks while you review your pro and con list for the 5,000th time. You need to make the call, pat yourself on the back, and move on NOW — while you still can.
Many people think that by delaying action, they're saving themselves from the results of a potentially bad decision. After all, it doesn't hurt to wait a month, right? Wrong. If you wait, you won't be in the same position you are now. You'll be worse off because you'll have lost a month of your life.
If you try ANDing in your business, let me know how it goes! I'd love to compare our results.
-Adam Williams
P.S. I was looking for a joke about procrastination to add here... but I'll have to send it later.
