The High Cost of Complacency

Ongoing improvement is necessary if you want your brand to survive in this fast-paced world.

It's easy to become complacent if everything is going your way.

But what happens if things get out of hand?

Chances are your brand will fail.

Remember your grit when striving to achieve a certain set goal.

The goal might have been anything from hoping on more calls, sending 50+ cold DMs, or making more sales.

You showed up each day and gave your all.

Yet after you achieved your goal, your grit power likely became subtle.

· You became self-satisfied.

· Stopped challenging yourself and taking new opportunities for growth.

· And to top it all, you also stopped seeking improvement.

Instead of setting new goals, you focused more on your previous wins.

You didn't notice any alarming changes when complacency began to kick in.

But with time, you realized you were no longer at the top of your game.

The effects of complacency had insidiously set in.

I know what you’re thinking: “Is it wrong to be self-satisfied?”

Absolutely not. There’s nothing wrong with it.

If you ask me, hyping ourselves when we do something good is necessary.

But the problem arises when we get stuck on this pedestal for too long that we forget to get ourselves out of it.

Like you, I also found myself in the complacency trap. But I managed to get out of it.

Here's how I did it.

1. Become Vigilant

The first step to avoiding complacency is knowing how it can affect your brand.

It's easy to fall and get stuck in a rut without realizing it.

To avoid such predicaments, stay focused, track your progress, and be intentional with achieving your goals.

When complacency insidiously sets in, take action; don’t wait for it to take your brand down.

2. Start each day a new.

You can easily get trapped in the achievements of the past and forget that success is a continuous process.

Rather than focusing on your former glory, you should focus more on making daily improvements.

Set daily goals and reflect on them at the end of each day to see the areas that need change.

3. Surround yourself with people who will tell you things as they are.

When you become successful, there's a high probability you'll attract a huge following of people who want to ride on the coattails of your success (but don't want to work for their own).

This group may not tell you when you're slacking or heading in the wrong direction because they fear you may cut them off once you start improving yourself.

Don’t get too absorbed in the dopamine rush brought by the fake people around you that you forget to cultivate self-awareness and set boundaries for yourself.

The goal here is to attract people who offer deep, meaningful connections, tell you when things go wrong, and hype you when you do something great.

4. Don't get too comfortable with your current position

Always strive to push yourself beyond your comfort zone.

Doing the same thing daily can be tedious and may lead to comfort.

So, take on new tasks that will keep you on your toes.

Change them up and challenge yourself often.

You can also change the system and adopt one favouring your current goal.

While you may need your core values and philosophy to make decisions, adopting a new system that will help your brand remain afloat with the best practices is necessary.

Change can be hard, but do you know what else is hard, keeping your brand afloat in the face of complacency? So choose wisely.

5. Focus on the process rather than the outcome.

This step reminds me of the classic saying, "It's a marathon not a sprint"

Rather than obsessing over the finish line, stay rooted in the present.

There’s a certain joy that comes with enjoying the process of what you’re doing.

Channel this joy to increase your productivity and creativity while staying resilient as you face obstacles.

Slow down, be mindful of your surroundings, and be sure to see the magic happen.

6. Stay humble

It’s easy to become smug and arrogant when enjoying prolonged comfort.

This is not new to us. We’ve all seen people who thought and felt invisible because they had never experienced failure.

They said, “Nothing bad could happen to their brand because it had never happened before.”

But it didn’t take long for them to fail.

Such a mindset can be risky as it may blind you from seeing the dangers ahead.

7. Continue Learning

The best way to avoid any form of complacency is to continue learning new things.

Read books, attend workshops, take courses, and seek out mentors who can help you develop new skills and knowledge. This will help you stay relevant and adapt to changes in your industry.

You can also take on new tasks or pursue interests beyond what you’re used to.

Stop relying on the same system that brought you your initial success in the first place.

Alright, that’s it for today!

Thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter!

I hope you found it informative and valuable. Please don't hesitate to reach out with any feedback or suggestions for future topics.