An Exit Strategy

Planning for the end.

That makes no sense to me. "Why would we plan the ending? We don't even know the start. Or the middle. Much less how this is all going to end!"

2002, I bought a company. Actually, I bought two of them. It was part of my "mid-life" crisis. I leveraged my entire life. Took a risk.

I remember people telling me - "Plan your exit strategy". Thinking "No, I'm doing this!", "Why would I want to STOP doing this".  Isn't that the WHOLE point of jumping in? Moving forward?

We BUY in.

We are told to "buy in" to everything. Why would we want to plan to leave? Isn't that a little like saying "this isn't going to work?" A bit like a pre-nup? I promise to love you forever, but if forever comes sooner than we thought, here is how we are going to go down different roads without each other.

Why would I want an exit strategy?

Why would I want to EXIT a perfect place?

BECAUSE:

In business - as I've learned, we want to build up something that someone else wants - then when we need to know how to be rewarded for all our hard work, and go on.

When I was getting ready to do my first triathlon - that was 11 years ago this summer, by the way - a girlfriend of mine (whom had done many triathlons) kept telling me "Practice your transition".  (BTW, that's a swim, then a bike ride, then a run)

I thought, when we bought things. Oh wait, acquired things, earned things, agreed to things - they were ours to keep.

Forever.

But that's not true.

Things are just temporary.

Experiences are forever. Feelings are forever. Some feelings change over time.

At some point, you must learn to exit. The water. Get off the bike. Or stop running.

There is a finish line ahead.

or another start line......

Make sure you have a strategy.

It's not a bad thing.