If You Aren’t Growing, You’re Dying
Your potential for growth, is the surest sign of your potential in life.
Here’s a remarkable headline from this morning’s news:
“Why Amazon’s Massive Retail Business Is No Longer Enough”
To be clear, this “massive retail business” earns Amazon a lot of money. In 2024, they brought in about $1.29 billion dollars… per DAY. So, why is it not enough?
There’s an old adage: what got you here won’t get you there. In other words, the future is rarely the same as the past—and any business executive worth their paycheck knows it. The most important trait of a businesses heath isn’t the talent on the team or the money in the bank account, but the growth rate of the business. (In Amazon’s case, previous success in retail won’t guarantee the company’s victory in the growing fight for the AI market.) A healthy growth rate is the surest signal you can find to predict the future. It’s why we so often connect two separate but definitely linked ideas: growth and life.
Certainly growth is connected to life, but have you noticed how often we synonymize it with life?
- In business, they say, “If you aren’t growing, you’re dying.”
- When someone stops putting in effort we say, “they’ve given up on life.”
- When someone experiences a set back that hinders them reaching their goals they say, “what do I have to live for?”
When we face a stall, we fear that it’s the first herald of a now inevitable end. But of course, it isn’t—there is always time to grow for those who make it a priority. And if a stall in growth is a sign of demise, than the choice to prioritize growth is a sign of life.
Which leads me to ask you: are you prioritizing your growth today? If not, it’s time to make it a priority. There are no excuses. You are never to—old, tired, confused, angry, bored—to get started. Just start.
Don’t forget the lesson here: Your potential for growth, is the surest sign of your potential in life.
Andrew