Return of the Ring Ruining Your Business

As I said on Monday, I couldn’t NOT make this a 3-parter. Today, the third and final way that Tolkien’s literary journey may be ruining your business.

I believe that what most fans connect to in this series is it’s epic nature. When you read the incredibly detailed descriptions of different lands and languages or see the wide shots of the beautiful New Zealand landscape, it’s magical.

We all want magical. Epic.

However, if you expect your business to be an action adventure to rival the trip to Mordor, then you may be ruining your business when life is a little more… boring.

Business Can’t Be Exciting All the Time.

There are certainly exciting times to be had and there’s nothing wrong with wanting that TV guest spot, the photo shoot celebrity feeling or being on the stage. The problem comes when you want that all the time, especially if you haven’t built up your business to that level yet.

Many gurus will show you the shortcuts and say you can skip paying the dues to fame or celebrity. But the fact remains you will put in the time or invest in other ways if you want exciting opportunities in your business.

For most us, it will come slowly and I believe it’s to give us the room to mature and prepare for a new normal. Think of all those lottery winners who went from scraping by to swimming in cash. With no adjustment period to achieving all their big dreams the result is usually a disaster.

Trust the process, sometimes it’s boring or routine but if you continue to do the work you’ll reach those epic goals.

Does Boring Mean Stagnant?

It’s true that sometimes our routines are boring but only if we’re not growing. Great entrepreneurs are innovating in addition to staying consistent in the routines that will bring them more business and growth.

It’s good to remember the boring parts of Lord of the Rings (like all of book 2) where nothing happens except hobbits get carried around in trees for about 50 pages. For a series about journeys you’ve got to expect a lot of time walking, going the wrong way, turning around and walking some more. Our businesses are similar, often times we will go full speed in one direction and then need to change course. Or just walk in the same direction for what seems to be ages.

Media has trained us to get right to the action and even the phrase “cut to the chase” means just skip the boring parts and get to the adventure!

Growth doesn’t happen in the highlights reel, it’s in the entire journey.

Instead of assuming that if your business isn’t currently epic, it’s not important remember that your whole story and journey is part of the plan. And if you’re currently craving more adventure then build it deliberately into your business strategy to develop. It may not be instantaneous but that’s all part of the adventure.

Don’t Let it Ruin Your Business

The trouble comes when you stop working because things are not exciting enough, which could result in delaying the real results that are around the corner or, at worst, cause you to give up on your business. I love Sam’s speech in the Two Towers when he says, “Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.”

So instead of focusing on the boring or tedious and lamenting the lack of epic adventure in your business, hold on to your dreams. Learn to enjoy the whole journey and if you are truly being held back by the tasks you don’t like but do, you need to consider getting some help along the way.