Thinking About It Isn’t Doing It | Staz Stazicker

0:00Alex Chisnall:There's something you mentioned in the book again, the jumping out of the plane at night, and I thought, that's a pretty good way to describe starting a business. It's a leap of faith. When you say, thinking about doing the thing isn't doing the thing. Planning to do the thing isn't doing the thing. Telling people you're going to do the thing isn't doing the fucking thing. You have to do the fucking thing. And you have to take that leap of faith. You have to do it. You have to commit. When you ask somebody, what's your biggest fear? It's like a preset response is fear of failure. And it's like, when you break that down though, and you think, what is fear of failure?

0:34Why are you scared of failing?

0:42We've done that. That needs fucking parking. It needs the attention. It needs the recognition and everything else. But that's the past. There's a line in the sand now. We start again. And for me, it was, I'm starting again. And it's probably the same for Louis. And we need to be the best at what we do now in this new field, in technical outdoor clothing and ThruDark in particular. So that was the professional bit in terms of business. Right, we're new to this, but let's apply everything that we've learned previously, use the good things and the bad and learn from those, and apply it now into business, something that's new, and surround ourselves with good people.

1:18And it was jiu-jitsu for me. So I started, I got introduced to jiu-jitsu. and it's that white belt mentality that I talk about in the book about starting something snakes and ladders back to the bottom yes I'm physically very fit I can run marathons I can run around with packs on I've been I've done all this you know and I'm in the gym I'm very comfortable I'm very fit I'm very active and accomplished let's do something that I'm not very fucking good at let me put a white belt around my fucking waist there's something you mentioned in the book again the

1:48Alex Chisnall:the jumping out of the plane at night and i thought that's a pretty good way to describe starting a business isn't it really it's a leap of faith isn't it and we talk about that and and that's a this is a really nice sort of segue again into something i want to talk about which is linked to the very first chapter about taking a leap of faith and people will put up their own barriers they'll put up their own um excuses and they are fucking excuses however you dress them up i can't do that because of this and i don't want to do that because of that i'm not ready to do this because of this and it's i heard it the other down a podcast i think it was chris williamson talked about when you say yeah thinking about doing the thing isn't doing the thing planning to do the thing isn't doing the thing telling people you're going to do the thing isn't doing the fucking thing you have to do the fucking thing and you have to take that leap of faith you have to do it you have to commit and most people are worried about what other people will think of them and when you ask somebody what's your biggest fear it's like a preset response is fear of failure yeah and it's like when you break that down though and you think what is fear of failure why are you scared of failing no you're not scared you're just scared of what other people's perceptions of you will be your loved ones and and how that and and how they will feel and think towards you like and i you were all guilty of it you like think competitions for jiu-jitsu you think i don't want to do a company because i've got a public profile and if i lose people pressure But it's just a lesson, isn't it?

3:11It's a fucking lesson. It's a lesson. It's so small. So you don't learn. Yeah. Exactly. And you worry so much. And you're constrained by other people's thought. A lot of people get wrapped around the axles with things because they think too much ahead. I think too far in the future before they've even broken everything down. If you look at a military term or an ism, it's the battle prep. And the first sort of chapter of the book is battle prep. And you do this in the military. you prepare for battle it's battle prep okay what's the mission the mission is to do this okay well let's work back from that how long have we got to before we need to execute that on that mission okay who have i got at my disposal you know in terms of people what are their you know where are their strengths and weaknesses you know what and you can then apply this to business as well let's say it's a business setting or perspective and i think i'll give examples in the book as well in terms of setting up a tattoo studio so if you look at stuff like well what's the business that i want to do and set up what do i need to get there don't sort of start overthinking everything and well i've got to do this and i've got to just break everything down systematically it's about that taking that step isn't it and going okay what how much can i do before i have to take that leap of faith taking it back to that example jumping out of a parrot plane you don't just suddenly end up on the back of a plane and fucking the green light comes on the guy gives you the thumbs up and you jump out of the plane it's broken down through training through experience, your kit and equipment, your checks, everything that you're wearing, your ultimatres, everything is checked, triple checked, it's safe.

4:39You do practice jumps, you know, you do dry drills, dry jumps, then you do a smaller jump, higher jump, higher jump, more kit, more equipment, night vision, oxygen, higher, night time, operational go. Do you know what I mean? So all this thing has got to be broken down. And it's not, I'm not a fan of blind faith just running into a mission or an operation and, ah, let's fucking go, go, go, pop smoke straight up. the middle that's not what it's about it's about preparing yourself mentally and physically and what can you do write things down write a plan of action of what you want to do and it sounds basic

5:10Alex Chisnall:but most people can't even fucking plan a day what's the one thing that's enabled you to screw it just do it leave the military launch and grow a successful business in three dark people and i mean that in two two ways one is is the external pressure which we all need pressures are privileged don't look at it as a negative, but also the people within the organization, the business that allow success, that are ultimately your fuel to success. Because without good people in the business, you cannot be successful. I don't care what anybody says, you need, you need like really, really, really good, driven, motivated people.

5:47That's one of the hardest things to find when you're an entrepreneur is to find people that are just as passionate about what they're doing and why they're doing it for ultimately for the business, for your business and fucking keep hold of those people and reward them as well and and tell them just how good they are and be thankful and recognize that your success is a massive part of those

6:04Alex Chisnall:other people thanks for listening and if today's episode has inspired you to take action why not take the next step come and meet me at the festival entrepreneurs this november at the nec in birmingham you'll be able to meet many of the founders you've heard on this podcast along with hundreds of ambitious entrepreneurs from across the UK. I'd love to see you there. So just go to festivalofentrepreneurs.co.uk to register for your free, yes, free ticket.