Down time is prep time

The first quarter slump.

That start to the year when business is slow and sluggish. When you’re sending out a myriad of quotes and getting little back in responses. When worldwide events - from natural disasters, pandemics and storms are wrecking havoc on the financial and social psyche as we know it.

When customers are drifting aimlessly past your store because their wallets are empty after a big season of spending.

When your social media is chugging like an old steam engine and your initial new year excitement has simmered down into a demoralising vapour.

If you’ve ever found yourself chewing at your fingers because your brand wins seem to have lost momentum then this is for you.

It’s frustrating for anyone building a business or brand when the ‘flow’ seems to be cut off or waning.

Yet these quiet, silent and sometimes seasons of despair are the best to grind, sharpen and hone your best assets in preparation for what’s to come.

I’m a fan of Serena Williams. Big, big fan. I’ve followed her career for several years now and watched her bounce back from a waning in her physical form as a result of pregnancy and motherhood - which we all know is inevitable - to claim back her title as queen of the court.

She faced an uphill battle - an emergency cesarean section, breathing difficulties due to a pulmonary embolism that required a follow-up operation.

Breast-feeding and healing a c-section scar doesn’t lend itself to the harrowing schedule of training, yet in her downtime, as she nursed her new baby, Serena was still prepping for her next grand slam.

From mental preparation to making sure she got onto the court each day to keep her swing and body strong.

When she emerged In Paris nine months after giving birth she beat 70th-ranked Kristyna Pliskova of the Czech Republic 7-6 (4), 6-4 at Roland Garros, her first grand slam since having her daughter, Alexis Olympia.

What we saw was a great win. What some termed as extraordinary. What we didn’t see was the endless and relentless hours of practice and preparation in the downtime. Well, if you’d watched the five part HBO documentary ‘Being Serena’, you’d have glimpsed the immense effort it took to rebuild her body and mind.

You see, extraordinary is not beyond reach, it’s all about taking a champion mentality to push through pain, frustration and continual improvements on your personal best to outclass and outwit the competition.

The point is, downtime for any brand, personal or business, is a great opportunity to double down and reach for the extraordinary by enduring the rigour of the ordinary little things you can keep improving on.

This blog post itself is being written in downtime. I’m waiting for my website developers to work on a fix - and the necessary adjustments are taking a rather long time. Which at first was driving me mental.

However after a good self talking to, I chose the down time to double down on my writing, reworking the messaging of the the platform, and adding new content to keep improving it. The result is a clarity of purpose and more improvements as I take the time to explore what more I can do to empower my audience around their brands and businesses.

You could stew in the unfairness of downtime. Or you could use the time wisely to prep yourself for future glory. What shall it be?

____________

About The Artful Brand

The Artful Brand is an online platform that is shifting the narrative on how we show up in life. An adaptation from the prevailing ‘performance’ mindset to an endurance perspective. Design your brand with intention, purpose, wisdom and empathy. Develop your marketing with strategic thinking. Future proof your reputation and deepen your legacy with wisdom. www.artfulbrand.com