Brian Gubernick argues pressure doesn't build character, it exposes what's already there. Two founders facing the same crisis have opposite outcomes because of their internal operating system, not the market. Build your standards and routines now so when pressure hits, you fall to the level of your habits, not your goals.
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Thank you for joining me today. It's Brian Gubernick, and welcome to the No Days Off podcast, where we believe that every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. Before I dive into today's episode, I just want to call your attention to our very last episode, the last one that we aired, uh, where I interviewed Founder of UGG, Brian Smith. It was a phenomenal interview. I did not do anything special. I just threw some things out there and just got out of his way. And Brian has a tremendous amount of entrepreneurial experience having built the company that is UGG. And I think the conversation was more of a philosophical conversation, his philosophies on life, the way he makes decisions, the way he thinks. Just as much, if not more, than it was the story of Ugg. So, if you've not listened to that episode yet, I want to highly encourage you to go back just one episode and take a listen. I promise you will not be disappointed. For today's episode, I want to talk about a quote that I heard recently, or actually I read recently, that kind of stopped me and had me thinking a little bit. It came from the, the book As a Man Thinketh. I think that book was written in the early 1900s. I was actually listening to it while I was running. Uh, the author James Allen has a great quote in there. He has lots of great quotes in there, but one thing he said had me thinking for a lot of that run that I was on. James said, circumstances do not make the man, they reveal him. Circumstances do not make the man, they reveal him. Now, if you're an entrepreneur, if you're a business owner, if you're a leader, this quote might resonate with you. I don't think it's so much a philosophical quote. I think it's more of a diagnostic. That's what I would call it. Here's the lie that I think a lot of us tell ourselves intentionally or unintentionally. We say things like, if things slow down, well, then I'll get more disciplined. If I had more money, I'd be more generous. If I had better people around me, I'd probably be a better leader. If the market wasn't so tough, I'd probably show up differently or better. What James Allen is saying with this quote is that that thought process, those lies that I just described, they're backwards. Because pressure doesn't create character, it simply exposes it. See, stress doesn't turn you into something new. At least this is the way that I interpret this, this quote. Stress doesn't turn you into something new. It pulls the curtain back on who you already are, what was already there. So, when business is good, almost everyone looks confident. Everyone looks like a genius when money is flowing. People look patient. They look like they make calculated decisions. When, when your team is winning, leadership looks pretty easy. I think it's calm seasons like that though that, that tend to lie to you. The hard seasons, the seasons filled with pressure, they're the seasons that tell the truth. Think about the last time things maybe got uncomfortable for you in your business. Maybe you had a key person quit, or you had a deal that fell apart, or your revenue dipped for the quarter, or you had a client that, that challenged you and your value. The pressure stacked up faster than, than you could handle it. What showed up? When, when that sort of uncomfortable feeling or experience hit? What showed up? Did you get sharper or did you maybe become more scattered? Did you take ownership or, or did you look for blame? Did you slow down and think or did you react more emotionally than you wish you would have? Did you protect your standards or did you abandon them? See, that wasn't the situation changing you. That was the situation that was revealing you. And for some of us, it's a really harsh reality. See, this entrepreneurial journey that we're on, entrepreneurship is the ultimate mirror in my opinion, because entrepreneurship is going to reflect back your discipline and your ego. It's going to reflect back your, your emotional control, your integrity, all of it. And guess what? The mirror really doesn't lie. I think as entrepreneurs, we live in, in volatility. I mean, that's, that's why we are— one of the reasons why we may be able to flourish as an entrepreneur, because we are able to handle volatility differently, differently than others. Our markets shift, our people leave, cash flow might tighten from time to time, expectations and goalposts— expectations rise and goalposts continue to move. See, if circumstances made the entrepreneur, then everyone who went through pressure would, would come out stronger. But that's not the way it goes. Some people come out better, but some people come out bitter. Some people come out of it wiser, but some people come out of it totally exposed. The same sort of pressure, but just different results. The difference is not likely the market. It's the, it's the internal operating system of that entrepreneur. I think that's why two business owners or two founders, let's say, can face the exact same storm And one steadies the ship and the other one panics and their company sinks. I think here's the, here's the part that, that most entrepreneurs don't want to hear. If pressure consistently brings out things that you don't like, like your avoidance or your short temper or excuses or maybe poor decisions, The solution is not better circumstances. The solution is actually better preparation. You don't fix character in a crisis, you, you reveal it, which means the real work happens when things are calm. So what do you, what do you do with this? If you believe in what I'm saying, if you agree with what I'm saying, what do you do with it? I think you build standards before you need them. I think personal rules— you set some personal rules that you don't negotiate. You set routines that remove the daily guessing. You establish and clarify decision filters that hold up not just in, in times of calm, but under stress. You, you have emotional discipline when no one else is watching. Because when the pressure hits, and it is absolutely going to hit, we could all agree, we've probably all experienced multiple points of pressure throughout our careers, you're not going to rise to the, to the level of your goals, you're going to fall to the level of your standards or your character. So here's what I want you thinking about today. Here's your, here's your action item today. I want you to think about the last high-pressure moment in your business, in your world, and then ask yourself one direct, honest question. I want you to ask yourself, what did it reveal about me, and do I like that answer? So think about that last high-pressure scenario and ask yourself, what did it reveal, reveal about me, and do I like that answer? If not, that's great. We're all about awareness here at No Days Off. This awareness is, is a gift because now you know you've got to make some changes because the next circumstance isn't coming to change you, it's coming to expose you. So in the spirit of No Days Off, getting a little bit better each and every single day, With that awareness, what steps are you going to take? That's all I have for you today, the No Days Off Podcast. Thank you so much for listening, and remember, every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. So let's get after it.
