Yin vs YangThe Battle for Success in Life

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Article by Peter J. Normandia. Follow me on Twitter.

Every Wednesday is Personal Development in Business, however I was late this week due to business obligations…

‘No nuts, no glory’ is a rather vulgar way of saying that if you don’t take risks, you’ll never get where you are going. This is great advice for business, and if you are like me, than the blunt, vulgar approach sinks in much faster than the sugarcoated, sappy crap.

I was listening to the rapper TI’s ablbum the other day, and apparently, this is a favorite statement of his. It’s not like he invented it, or that I never heard it before, but being in the position I am in right now, it really hit home this time.

My business is in it’s second year, and we are just now getting to the right point we should be. It has been a long road, as this blog can reveal, and we are still climbing up hill. However, we have really made it through thick and thin, and survived.

When we first started, many thought I should just get a job for security and safety, especially after my failed mortgage venture. However, I have a very thick head and now, because of the ailing economy, everyone is realizing that the idea of a job giving you security and safety is a just an illusion. No one is safe from bad times. Truth is it’s not about avoiding the bad times, it’s all how you handle them.

After my experiences, the best analogy for starting a business I can come up with is playing a game of Texas Hold’em. Whether in business, or poker, it’s all how you play the hand your dealt.

Surviving the Initial Buy In

The initial buy-in in Texas Hold’em is like your initial investment in the business. Many people lose everything on the first few hands. It’s kind of the first test of a business.

• Can you survive?
• Are you able to live with the risks you need to manage?
• Can you handle financial stress while working for cheap, sometimes even free at first?
• Do you have the gall to risk everything on a pipe dream?

These are the kinds of questions every self employed person needs to answer. Believe me, there have been plenty of times I thought about whether or not I am on the right track. It certainly has not been easy. In fact, IT’S BEEN DAMN HARD. So hard, that I could not imagine possibly ever going through it again.

However, as a friend of mine recently said, ‘…these are the good times. When the money is rolling in, don’t get me wrong, it’s great, but these are the fun times, when you are building it all up. This is the stuff you remember.’

Over the years , this friend of mine made over a million, lost it all, made it again, lost most of it, and then just got it back again. He is a survivor, and the kind of person you need to be to deal with the lightening quick changes the information age causes today. Just like in Texas Hold’em, it’s not how many chips you have that matter, it’s how you play the hand you have.

Managing Risk

Now, if you have ever played Texas Hold’em, than maybe you can understand the meaning of ‘No nuts, no glory’ for a business owner. You see, the poker table is like your business world. The chips represent your market share, or your assets. The only difference between the table, and your world, is that at the table, everyone starts with the same amount of chips. In the real world, it is much more skewed.

At the table, though, the real playing does not begin till the chips start to move around. How many times have you seen somebody up big, and all of a sudden, like that, they are out? This person is probably a big risk taker. They may win big sometimes, but in the end, they are going to take one too many chances, and wind up ‘all in’ at the wrong time.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, how many times have you seen somebody play it so tight to the vest, that they never are even in the game? This person takes no risk. They play the hand they have to the tee. If it’s good, they are in. If it’s bad, they fold. They never lose a lot of chips at once, but they always lose them all over the course of the game while waiting for the perfect moment that may never come.

How to Play Poker Better and Apply it to your Business

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The same traits can be applied for business owners. Behind every success story is a story of tremendous risk management, and a soldier like work ethic. The best businesses, and the best poker players, all know how to manage risk. They take big chances, but only when they should.

For example, the best poker players bide their time before suddenly swooping in and taking all the pots. The reason is, they know how to manage their risk. They know that it’s not only about the hand you have, it’s also about the hand everyone else has. So they tend to skip a lot of hands in the beginning because the risk is too big. Too many players with too many cards and chips.

However, after getting a handle on the table, and how the other players play, a great player then feels comfortable taking big risks. As soon as the opportunity presents itself, they swoop in with big calls, and take home the pot.

For business owners, it is the same idea to build a successful business. At first, you need to keep your risks low, and get a feel for your market. Get a feel for your competitors. See what they do well, and what they don’t. Know your business world inside and out. Then, when an opportunity presents itself that just feels right in your gut, it’s time to suck it up, and take that big risk. If you don’t take the risk, you will never advance.

Most people are afraid of falling backwards. Not me. I’m afraid of staying still. The only time their are ups and downs is when you are making progress. If there are no ups and downs, than you are not moving at all, and that’s scarier then anything I can imagine.

Taking big risks does not mean you will always win either. That’s okay. No professional poker player wins even half the time. However, they all make a lot of money when they do win, and it usually compensates for the times they lose. Not only that, but each time they lose, they gain experience for the next time they face a similar situation.

So it’s all up to you whether you use this advice to take your friend’s money at the Texas Hold’em table, or simply use it to motivate yourself to success. The choice is yours. Just remember, the next time an opportunity presents itself…

NO NUTS = NO GLORY.

Go for it. Win or lose, you always come out on top in the end. It’s those of us that don’t go for it, that wind up the worst off.

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