Episode 165: How ‘The Walking Dead’ Saved My Business (No Really!)
If you saw the title of today’s episode, I have to be honest, I’m a bit embarrassed. I’m super late to “The Walking Dead” phenomenon. But full disclosure, I don’t like gore or blood. And I probably fast forwarded through 40% of most of the episodes, because, well it’s gross.
I was at a point where the burnout was going to hit and it was going to hit really hard if I didn't do something. I could feel I was starting to lose the ability to change my state by myself. As you all know, I really love talking about the importance of changing our own states if you're in a bad mood, or you’re having a tough time.
How watching 'The Walking Dead' saved my business
Picture it: It’s my house on Saturday morning. The kids aren’t here. I sat down on the couch after finishing my running class and the fatigue was real. This wasn’t necessarily work related; it was a culmination of health issues and family issues I faced over the past year.
I was almost at the point where I couldn’t take care of myself. I don’t mean that as though I’m a victim – I just mean there was so much that had to get done. For the first time ever, I canceled every call and every class. I got substitute teachers for an entire week because I had to take care of yet another health issue that wasn’t mine. It was dire, and it required immediate attention.
All things are beyond my control. Sometimes life is like that. Sometimes we just have to deal with what is handed to us. By the end of it, it had been so challenging and draining that I went to my running class, which was amazing, and then I came home sweaty and disgusting and turned on “The Walking Dead.”
At first, I was thinking there’s something wrong with me. I’m watching a show where people being murdered. But I talked to a couple friends about it and one of them said, “You’re watching other people run from life-threatening situation to life-threatening situation.”
It was a joy for me to watch someone else have to deal with a crisis that did not stop. I got to sit on the couch and watch someone else deal with it.
My brain on 'The Walking Dead'
What I came to understand is that the left side of my brain, the one that deals with analytical and active thinking, had been on fire for about a year. My daughter’s Type 1 diabetes diagnosis came in over a year ago. My brain had been solving problem after problem, strategic need after strategic need, and it just didn’t let up.
But that meant the right side of my brain wasn’t getting any exercise. While I was consuming art and slipping away into someone else’s world I was finally able to give my left brain a rest and give my right brain the workout it needed.
I started to spend the weekends really relaxing. Then I’d come into work on Monday and I was able to function again and be creative. That’s something I personally felt had been missing in my business for the last year, my ability to really get uber creative, to really generate on a new level. That’s back!
So, that’s why I’m saying “The Walking Dead” did save my business.
I want to challenge you business owners out there to enjoy some fun. I know if you’re a reading junkie like me, you’re probably always checking out personal development and marketing books. Those are left brain. They’re beautiful.
I want to invite you to read a fun novel here and there. Maybe a historical fiction. Let yourself get lost in a bit of art. I think you'll be astonished at what happens in your business when you allow your right brain to take its place, when you give it the room that it needs.
I think if we can all sort of commit to releasing this hustle right that we all find ourselves surrounded with, to releasing this constant strategy thing that we can find ourselves tangled up in. We can release that and enjoy the artwork of others, artwork being photography, books, music, dance artwork, museums, plays, there are so many beautiful shows and even gross TV.
How ‘The Walking Dead’ resonated with entrepreneurship
Without spoiling anything, what happens to the main characters is exactly what happens to entrepreneurs. You know, in the beginning, any zombie is terrifying and the rattling doorknob is the worst thing that could happen. But by seasons 2 and 3, the characters are shoving those zombies out of the way.
They’re no longer a problem. Why? Because there are other problems and they’re bigger.
It’s exactly like being an entrepreneur. When you start the biggest problem might be setting up your website or some sort of transactional software in place. Then the next big problem might be firing someone. And it just keeps going.
But pretty soon, what starts to happen is that the tasks or ideas that used to be huge are the things you knock out on a Tuesday before lunch.
And I think that story inside “The Walking Dead” is so important for all of us. When life hands us a catastrophe sandwich, at first, it’s horrifying and it’s terrible. But you can get through it. You can master it.
I do hope that you remember there is art out there. There is a place for us to go where we can slip into the power of the right brain, and we need that so much!
Let’s get to it!
