A big term in college basketball this year was, “Are you the hunter or are you the hunted?” In other words: Are you the aggressor?
So much of success (business, non-profit, personal achievement) is based on a lunch box mentality.
People who are the hunted go out to lunch. They coast into vacation times. They talk about balance and me time and push meetings so they can get home for a kids soccer game.
People who are the hunters bring their lunch. They sprint hard seemingly all the time. Balance? Pfft. They are woefully unbalanced. But they flat out get stuff done.
Growth Mode, Coast Mode, and Normal Time
Here’s the deal. No one can be in growth mode perpetually. It simply burns too much energy and is unsustainable for long periods of time.
Every person/organization has growth modes. These are bursts. And every person/organization has coast modes. These are pauses.
In this post, I just want to share something obvious. This is something that makes so much sense that it cracks me up that no one else builds their strategy around it.
Hack the Cycle
Here’s the trick: Our culture dictates much of this cycle. National and religious holidays set-up a cycle that is easily hacked because it is entirely predictable.
People have a natural tendency to coast a little headed into a holiday. (Christmas, Easter, Fourth of July) Parties and plans and shopping and all that nonsense are for the hunted. They tend to schedule vacations around it. They look at those times as opportunities for more time off, stretching a natural 3-day weekend into a 9-day break. “Hey,” they think “it’s the right time to take a little break. Grab the kids for some me time.” Then they plan to ramp up into growth mode coming off those breaks.
Normal > Coast > Pause (Easter) > Growth
It’s predictable. It’s human nature. But, for those looking to hustle… it’s an opportunity. They simply hack the system by pausing when everyone else is on normal time and hit the growth button right through these holidays.
Normal > Growth > Growth > Normal
So while you coast or pause… they power through it. (And coast/pause at other times when you are in normal time.) They use your down time as a way to catch up or even get ahead of you.
Is it healthy? Is it balanced? Is it… whatever? The hunter doesn’t care. He’s after something else. He’s ruthless. He takes advantage of your weakness. The hunter hunts while you sleep. The hunter hunts while you cut cake.
Who ever said being a hunter was fair?
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