Well, we were bragging about how great life was last week. We were sharing with you our good fortune in having our project make it out of the hardest stage, Introduction.  I feel like Jerry Maguire when he goes into that room looking for his wife, telling her about their project. Well, with the slight exception that Tom Cruise and I don’t look alike at all, my wife has not left me and I do not jump on couches to profess my love, Cruisazy-style, there are some other similarities.

One, Jerry was fed up with the corporate culture of his former company – check that.  Jerry had a lot of his close business friends turn their backs on him – check that too. Jerry sang Free Falling like a maniac – yep. Jerry felt a lot of pressure (I think it was all that yelling by Cuba) – ditto. Jerry fought until the end for his project, his wife, his son and his client – you can bet your butt on that one.

Well, today was a good dose of reality, I was busy since the morning until just now.  Took a good dinner break with my kids and wife, and then a good shower.  But the day has mostly been about hard work in a LOT of different projects.  I have been pressured all day to include a new project in my day and so far, so good, with obvious adjustments.

The unfortunate realizations are that when you know you made it out of one stage, that literally means you are at the beginning of the next stage and there is a loooong way between you and the stage after that.  We have to diversify our income streams and make sure that our vendors and clients form a non-risky and balanced equation of cash flows.  We also have to entertain stepping it up for our customers and providing more differentiation tools than the competition – that is always hard.  And lastly, we have to suck it up when we get into situations that make us feel uncomfortable because the commitment to the business is more important than our personal feelings sometimes.  Personal preferences are important and necessary, but do not overrule judgement and logic.

Reality sets in quickly and puts our feet back on the ground again… quickly.

Keep Calm and Stay Humble