The Law of One in Franchising
“The great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance
A lot of people when they come into a franchise think that everything will be turn key, which is true to an extent, but you still need to be self reliant within the system that the franchise puts into place. Thinking that the first year is going to be easy sailing will set you up for failure. Here are some ways in which you can understand your role as a franchisee and how you can maximize your results in your first year.
Life is tough, that's a given. You're going to be knocked down more times than not. When you're down, you're going to feel stepped on. Your first year as a franchisee in a new system will be a learning experience unlike many that you have embarked on before. You may not think you are cut out for it. You are the only one who can make yourself achieve those great heights, but the world is 50/50. The sun rises and it sets, spring blooms and winter kills. You have to put equal work to get equal results. Franchises eliminate some of the work that must be put in, but not all.
I’m all for simplicity; Go all in on the things that add value to your life and eliminate the things that don’t. The 98% want to put the blame as to why they aren't winning on others or their situations, but these people are in this place because of their ways of thinking. When you depend on others or if you don’t and place blame on them for your present situation, you look weak and nobody wants to come across as weak.
There has been this cultural shift in society that people have been blindly adhering to, and that is the notion that everything in one's life is the product of someone else doing. Let’s take, for example, a heartbreak. No one wants to be on the losing end of this and everyone in this situation places the blame on the other for making them feel this way. Perhaps one isn’t satisfied where they are at in they life, whether it be career, family, money, and so on; most of the time, they will automatically place the blame on someone else or an external circumstance. This is a disease that needs to be eradicated at once by accepting the fact that you are who you are because of the way you have handled the past and you are where you are because of the actions you have taken from these situations that led you to where you are at the present. One of the most important facets about the Law of One is to accept yourself and your situation as being a product of, you guessed it, you. Everything is a product of yourself, from how you internalize information and emotion, how you react to it, and to how you proceed to the situation and overcome adversity. There is a saying in the Army that I always carry with me wherever I go and apply it to numerous circumstances- ‘Adapt and Overcome’. This is quite a powerful statement in the fact that it allows for one to not even have the time to think about blaming others or situations, but to simply accept the fact that the event happened, change to meet the situation, and overcome it.
The secret that most people fail to recognize is that the world is always changing. Life is always moving. Out of order comes disorder. Out of disorder comes order. Societies thrive and implode. Relationships are hot and then cold. Friendships go well and end. Once one knows this and knows to adapt and overcome, then he or she is completely reliant on themselves to overcome the situation and look onward, without placing blame on other people, things, or circumstances.
Elliot Hulse uses a terrific analogy to describe three phases of life by pulling some of Nietzche’s works:
“I name you three metamorphoses of the spirit: how the spirit shall become a camel, and the camel a lion...”
-Nietzsche
The camel is the first phase. What is a camel? A beast of burden. Forever carrying the baggage of others. The duty of the camel is to obey. To be commanded. This phase describes when we´re growing up. You MUST do your homework. You MUST attend this. You MUST dress like this. You MUST behave this way. You MUST look this way, hang out with these people, like these things… The camel is heavily burdened by the burdens of society. “Thou Shalt!” We´re doing what we OUGHT to do. This is the entrepreneur before they embark on the business ownership journey. Before they have veered off into their own path.
Franchising is where the transformation begins.
The camel then ventures into the solitude of the desert with its burdens. It must question all the accepted truths engrained in its mind. In the expanse of the desert, with separation from all previous beliefs and ideals, the camel transforms into the lion, for “it wants to capture freedom and be lord in its own desert”.
The lion. King of the jungle. Noble, great, and a vicious killer. The lion bows to no one. Its motto: “I will". But to obtain its freedom, it must kill the “great dragon”. It is time for you to gain your freedom. Own your business, not your job. This is where you rule. But you must act like a lion.
Wake up early and hunt.