I’ve been experimenting with a new approach to managing my business based on my experience in jiu jitsu.
In jiu jitsu, you are in one of three positions at all times:
An offensive position trying to submit your opponent…
A defensive position attempting to protect yourself from submissions…
Or a neutral position, looking to get to an offensive position…
If you play very aggressively and don’t consider defense, you leave yourself open to attacks.
If you only defend and wait for your opponent to move, you’ll have fewer opportunities to win because you aren’t dictating the pace of the engagement.
If you don’t know how to turn neutral positions into offensive ones, you’ll always be on the losing end of exchanges. It’s a delicate balance.
I’ve noticed that in my business career, I’ve spent the majority of my time on offense — learning how to make money. This has served me well and provided for me over the years.
However, I’ve neglected going deep on a lot of defensive skills that would get me out of heat: boring stuff like accounting, bookkeeping, taxes, corporate structure, etc. I never wanted to be bothered with paperwork. I just wanted to make the money and have other people handle the rest. I did the bare minimum defensively so that I could get back to elements of business I considered more fun and interesting.
This is backwards logic.
Jiu jitsu teaches us that all strong offense comes from a bulletproof defense. When you’re certain that no matter what an opponent does, you’re capable of surviving and escaping, you’ll feel confident to take offensive risks with the knowledge that nothing can really hurt you. You’re flowing in and out of positions without fear.
Without sound defense, you’re often too worried to attack because if the attempt fails (as it often does against a skilled opponent), you’ll likely end up in a worse position than before.
This mentality can lead to stalling when you get in an advantageous position and never truly going for the submission. Worse yet, it leads to holding onto an attack past the point of no return, when it’s clear the momentum is shifting in the direction of your opponent, because you’re afraid of transitioning to something new.
This happened the last time I rolled with Ioane — a very strong and skilled black belt at Impact Jiu Jitsu. I didn’t expect to “win” the roll, and that’s not really the point. But I remember a specific moment during the session when popped up half a second faster than him and had the opportunity to go for a front headlock. Despite seeing the opportunity, I reflexively avoided initiating because I wasn’t confident enough in my defense should the tables turn. It didn’t matter anyway. In that split second, he gripped me, flipped me and power slammed me into the mat.
I wasn’t mad that Ioane crushed me. That was actually fun. I was mad that I held back because of my own defensive fear. This experience got me thinking a lot about how the same concept applies in business and it’s resulted in me splitting my typical work day into three different categories of activity.
Offensive activities are anything that directly result in making money. Sales calls, marketing, partnerships, etc. I try to spend as much time here as possible, but not to the detriment of other areas.
Defensive activities are anything that protect me from losing money. Staying on top of numbers, making annoying phone calls to the bank, insurance company, working with my attorney on corporate structure, etc. The fewer defensive fires I have to put out, the more time I can spend on offense.
Neutral activities are anything that involves me actually delivering the product to my clients — like writing and producing the upcoming books for Dr. Brett Jones. Jay Knight or James Swanwick. These activities are neutral in that day-to-day, they don’t result in “new” money, but over time, they create the more offensive opportunities because the better my deliverables are, the more my clients will want to share their satisfaction with the world.
One simple way I’ve implemented this in my personal and business finances is by going line-by-line through every transaction in each account at least once per week. No amazon purchase, gas station fill-up or random $3 transaction is overlooked. In the past, I would look at balances and as long as they seemed to be trending in the right direction, I didn’t feel the need to examine every single purchase. This practice has opened up the opportunity for me to understand what’s happening in my finances on a granular basis and shown me some defensive holes that wouldn’t have been resolved with a more loose approach.
I used to think I could solve all business problems by going on offense. Got a problem? Make more money. “Sales cure all,” as Mark Cuban has repeatedly said. Yet any amount of wealth can be reduced to zero without the willingness and ability to defend it daily. Smart business owners need the foresight to work on the more neutral activities today that will turn into moneymaking opportunities down the road.
We’ve all heard the phrases “A penny saved is a penny earned” and “Offense wins games, defense wins championships.” I wish I would have appreciated them sooner. It just happened to make more sense in my brain from the perspective of martial arts.
Jiu jitsu has given me so much this year. A gnarly staph infection and priceless business wisdom. See you on the mats (as soon as I’m fully recovered).
If you’re an expert, industry leader or professional who wants to stand out by writing a powerful book, I’m hosting a free workshop that you’re not going to want to miss!
Free Live Event: The Hidden Power of Publishing
How Attract “Forever” Customers, 3-5x Your Revenue and Expand Your Influence With A Bestselling Book
Wednesday, October 9th @ 8pm EST
Here’s What You’ll Learn:
- The 5 core elements a book needs to create genuine authority and credibility in your industry.
- The secret method for using your book like a “business card on steroids” that 3-5x’s your revenue.
- How to leverage a book to create high-ticket offers, partnership opportunities and other priceless relationships.
- A high-level overview of the publishing process from concept to launch.
If you’re a professional, entrepreneur or expert who is ready to become a bestselling author, I highly recommend you RSVP. I’ll send out a replay to those who can’t make it.
Much love,
D
PS — Books are incredible tools that the majority of business owners and professionals overlook (or procrastinate on forever!) because the thought of writing it overwhelming. But think about all the possibilities that could begin to open up if you finally published that book you’ve been thinking about for months (or years…)
