Welcome to episode 9 of the Fail Forward podcast.   In my early, boom days as a business owner I often joked about the fact I was ‘winging it’. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t blagging it. I was emulating people in my industry who seemed to have it nailed. I was jumping in at the deep end, working things out as I went along and failing forward.    Until I couldn’t any longer. I learned the hard way, winging it is not sustainable!   When my ability to successfully wing it ran out I turned to a business coach, Jeff Shrimpton. Quickly identifying that I had fallen into the hero trap that affects so many business owners, he recommended I read, One minute manager meets the monkey by Hal Burrows, Ken Blanchard, and William Oncken.   “I don’t do reading” was the most telling statement I could have made. I had closed my mind to learning.    If you’ve listened to previous episodes you’ll already know I’ve radically changed my mindset and am now an avid learner. Books, courses, mentoring, mastermind events - I’m hungrier for knowledge and learning opportunities now than at any other time in my life.    Whilst that shift came too late to save the business, it’s helped my recovery and is the reason I have four (and counting) growing businesses that are all far more robust than my first ever was.    In this episode I explore the importance of striking the right balance between winging it and self development. If you don’t, and are too busy getting your ducks in a perfect row, you will miss opportunities. Balancing learning and winging it empowers you to gain traction and achieve success faster.   After all, if you aren’t trying, finding points of failure and overcoming them, are you really moving forward?   If you’re enjoying the Fail Forward podcasts, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or LinkedIn for all the latest on my mission to help business owners Fail Forward.    Facebook https://www.facebook.com/failforwardhenri LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/henri-ghijben-539132101/ TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@failforward12 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/henrighijben/