My Business Failure: The Wake-Up Call I Needed
In mid-2014, I thought I was a genius. My partner and I started our business with big dreams and even bigger confidence. I thought I had it all figured out.
Nine months later, we were broke, the business was gone, and I was sitting in an empty office, wondering what had happened. My confidence was completely shattered.
Looking back now, I can see exactly where I went wrong. I spent my days sitting in a comfortable, air-conditioned office. I waited for reports to land on my desk. I made decisions from a distance, never getting my hands dirty, never seeing the real problems with my own eyes.
I wasn’t running a business. I was just pretending to run one.
That failure hurt. But it also taught me the most valuable lesson of my life: business failure lessons aren’t just about strategy or money. They’re about the daily habits that make or break you. This realization set me on a new path.
Why Small Habits Lead to Big Results
After the business failed, I spent weeks feeling sorry for myself. Then one day, I asked myself a simple question: “What if I just tried to be 1% better today than I was yesterday?”
That’s when everything changed. It led me to rethink how growth truly happens.
I discovered something powerful regarding why small habits lead to big results. You don’t need to transform your entire life in one day. You just need to improve a tiny bit, consistently, every single day.
Think about it like this: If you improve by just 1% each day for a year, you’ll be 37 times better by the end. That’s not magic—that’s math. That’s the compound effect of habits.
But if you try to change everything at once? You’ll burn out in a week.
How to Build Good Habits: My Four-Step System
After my failure, I needed a plan. Here’s the exact system I used to rebuild my life, one small habit at a time.
Step 1: Start with the 1% Daily Rule
This is the foundation of changing your habits 1% every day.
Don’t try to fix everything. Don’t promise yourself you’ll wake up at 5 AM, exercise for two hours, read three books, and start a new business—all tomorrow.
Instead, pick one tiny thing. Just one.
For me, it started simply. I realized that sitting in my office was killing my business. So I made a small change: I would spend 30 minutes each day at the actual work site, seeing things with my own eyes.
That’s it. Just 30 minutes.
The next week, I added a little more. Then a little more. Small steps. No pressure. No burnout.
Step 2: Use the Check-Mark Method for Productive Habits
Here’s a secret that changed my life: productive habits need to be visible.
I bought a simple calendar. Every day I practiced my new habit, I put a big X on that date. That’s all.
Sounds too simple, right? But watching those X’s grow into a chain became addictive. I didn’t want to break the chain. Some days I was tired, but I’d look at my calendar and think, “I’ve done this for 12 days straight. I’m not stopping now.”
When I learned to operate the power tiller properly, I marked it. When I spent hours cleaning grass around my property, I marked it. When I actually finished a full day of hands-on work, I marked it.
Each mark was proof. Proof that I was changing. Proof that I was becoming someone different.
Step 3: Stack Your New Habits onto Old Ones
This is called habit stacking, and it’s brilliant in its simplicity. Here’s how to build good habits that actually stick: attach them to something you already do every day.
For example:
- After I drink my morning coffee → I spend 10 minutes planning my day.
- After I check my email → I visit the work site.
- After lunch → I do one physical task myself.
I used to think, “I’m a business owner. Why should I do manual labor?” That thinking destroyed my first business.
So I changed the pattern. Every morning after breakfast, I would go outside and do at least one task by hand. Plant flowers. Move soil. Fix a fence. Something real. Something physical.
By connecting this new habit to something I already do (eating breakfast), it became automatic.
Step 4: Make “Don’t-Do” Decisions
Recovering from business failure isn’t just about adding good habits. It’s also about stopping bad ones.
I made a list of things I would no longer do:
- I would no longer make decisions without seeing the situation myself.
- I would no longer rely only on reports.
- I would no longer avoid physical work because I thought it was “beneath me.”
Quitting these bad habits created space. Space for growth. Space for real learning.
Simple Steps to Personal Growth: What Changed for Me
Today, I’m not the same person who failed in 2015.
I can operate a power tiller. I can plant and maintain a garden. I understand my business from the ground up because I’ve done every job myself.
But more importantly, I’ve learned that simple steps to personal growth don’t require genius or luck. They require consistency.
When I started doing the actual work—digging in the soil, planting seeds, working under the hot sun—something amazing happened. I learned things no report could ever teach me. I understood problems before they became disasters. I connected with the real heart of the work.
My knowledge didn’t just grow a little. It exploded.
Your Turn: How to Change Your Habits Starting Today
You don’t need to wait for a business failure to change your life. You can start right now.
Here’s what I want you to do:
- Pick ONE habit you want to build. Just one. Make it so small it feels almost too easy.
- Get a calendar and mark it every day you do your new habit.
- Attach it to something you already do every day without thinking.
- Choose ONE bad habit to stop. Just one. Remove it from your life.
That’s it. That’s how to change your habits 1% every day.
Will you transform overnight? No. Will you transform over time? Absolutely.
The Truth About Change
Real growth isn’t dramatic. It’s not a movie montage where you suddenly become successful in three minutes.
Real growth is quiet. It’s showing up every day. It’s improving 1% when no one is watching. It’s choosing the hard, right thing over the easy, wrong thing.
My business failed because I chose comfort over growth. I chose reports over reality. I chose to stay in my air-conditioned office while my business died outside.
Now? I choose differently. Every single day.
And if I can change, so can you.
Start today. Start small. Start with 1%.
Your future self will thank you.
