Just before Christmas 2024, I had surgery to remove my prostate gland. There were very early signs of cancer developing there. My father and grandfather both died when cancer metastasised from their prostate to other parts of their body. My urologist strongly advised surgery to remove the prostate before the cancer has any chance to spread. My recovery from surgery has been good, and now I am doing the required physio to deal with related side effects.
I noticed after surgery that progress has been steady but not always the same every day. I had some discomfort for a couple of weeks. Other than walks around my neighbourhood I stayed at home and rested for the first 10 days. Some days I was good, other days I felt very tired and sore. I attended church on Christmas Day and found the whole experience exhausting – being in a large crowd and talking to people afterwards. I just wanted to get home. Recovery has been step by step – just sometimes the steps were backwards before going forward. Overall, I am doing well compared to the first day after surgery.
Progress across our lives is similar
When you have a major setback that knocks the stuffing out of you, (like a divorce, or loss of employment) it can feel like it is such a long way back. It is devastating. So much you have built gets destroyed. At first everything is very challenging, but then slowly things improve. Progress can be a bit hit and miss, but after a while you can sense you are rising again and become confident that things will get better.
Business Growth (progress) needs to be carefully measured
I have a client who had an outstanding 3-month period from August to October 2024. He was very excited about the results and the income generated. However, his November was not as good, and December had a lot of extra annual costs. He finished the year less encouraged than he hoped. Then I asked him to compare his December 2024 to December 2023. He was more than 30% up on the figures from a year before. This changed his perspective.
He was learning a good lesson. Business progress is rarely consistent across all months of any year. There will be bumper months and then more challenging times. If you measure your progress weekly, it is like riding a roller coaster. Even monthly measures
can be unhelpful at times. It is important to keep the perspective of the year-on-year growth as well as monitoring weekly and monthly data.
And then, after a few years in business, you can monitor seasonal trends which can help you stay clear headed about your longer-term progress. For my client, every December there are extra salary costs in his business which make it a less profitable month for him.
I write this short article to encourage you to make sure you are being realistic about the progress you are making in your business and across your life. To stay encouraged, make sure you know the best numbers to monitor in your business, and make sure you keep the perspective of monthly and yearly comparisons.
John Drury Business Mentor – mentoring to develop the leader within you, and to raise up and empower the leaders around you. If you are interested in learning to become a better leader within your business, please reach out for a free conversation. (Book here).
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