Remember the game Chutes and Ladders? The kids’ board game where you have to climb to the top before anyone else?
Chutes and Ladders (or Snakes and Ladders) is ostensibly about luck, random spins or rolls of the dice, and avoiding the slides that send you careening to the bottom.
It’s also about hanging in there, in spite of the odds.
There’s always a point in the game where every player thinks: “This is it. I’m done. My luck has run out.”
This is the secret of the game. When you feel that way — and you always do — you must press on.
Persistence improves odds in games like these.
We have to get past the mindset that there’s no point in continuing — or that luck is not on our side.
Luck is not on anyone’s side. You can’t control the game. You can only control you.
Pay attention, and you’ll find there’s a key moment. There’s a decision point where you commit to finish, not walk away.
Even when you want to send the board flying across the room.
Each time you play, you learn something new. Maybe not about the game, but about your opponents. About yourself. Being a better you is a marketing advantage
About “luck.”
Play enough games, and you start to see that all those lucky and unlucky moments even out. In the end, most games are won by a few moves, even if you are knocked back again and again.
Once you achieve that peace of mind and willingness to push through, in spite of the odds, you gain the upper hand.
Learning to persist when the odds are not in your favor gives you the steel to go on to bigger games…
…Games that require strategy and guts.
Before the pandemic, we could pick up our toys and walk away if the dice did not favor us.
Today, we play.
Be patient. Be determined. Keep climbing. Comment below.
Sandy Hubbard is an expert Marketing Strategist specializing in the Printing Industry. She consults with Print CEOs and owners of print, media, and platform businesses of all sizes — helping marketing teams build visibility and increase sales.
Sandy is also co-host of #PrintChat, a weekly discussion on LinkedIn. Join the group here — and enjoy the fun at social media’s most popular chat for the global printing industry!
