When Achilles was a baby it was foretold that he would die very young. His mother, Thetis, took him to the River of Styx, which was supposed to possess the powers of invulnerability. Holding onto his ankle she dipped him into the water. The only part of his body that wasn’t covered was his heel.
Achilles grew up to be a powerful warrior and survived many battles. However, during the Trojan War an arrow struck his heel, his only weakness, and he died.
In modern culture an Achilles Heel is a weakness that in spite of overall strength can lead to one’s downfall. For example, Superman has Kryptonite. I’ve always took pride in being tough and grinding through uncomfortable situations. Up to now I felt like I didn't possess an Achilles Heel, however a recent string of events has started me to question my invulnerability.
Snickers have always been my go to candy bar when hunting. I rarely buy them any other time, but I usually have one with me when I am in the outdoors. A snickers can get me through a long sit in a tree stand or push me over one more ridge in the mountains. The candy bar even warms me up when sitting in a cold duck blind.
The Saturday before Christmas Dad, Todd, and I went to our duck blind in an attempt to attract some greenheads. Temperatures were dropping and is was a cold morning. During a lull in the activity I pulled a Snickers out of my bag and took a bite. It was harder than normal from the cold air. I felt some popping and heard some cracking. I thought I had broken a tooth.
After close examination I realized my teeth were fine and I must have hurt my jaw. There was some pain, but I kept hunting. We had a pair of ducks come in later and I shot. The recoil from the gun hurt my jaw and I thought, man something is messed up.
I took some ibuprofen when I got home and went deer hunting that evening. The pain was tolerable, so I figured I just pulled a muscle. In fact I continued to live my life pretty normal, with the exception of taking a couple ibuprofen for the pain. The following Thursday my face continued to swell and I decided to go to a doctor. The x-rays didn’t show any breaks however she recommended I go see an oral surgeon.
With New Year’s weekend just a couple of days away I couldn’t get in until the following Tuesday. Over the weekend I noticed it was becoming harder and harder to eat. I could barely open my mouth and the pain was still there.
Tuesday arrived and the oral surgeon took a detailed x-ray. The diagnosis was not good. My jaw bone was infected and I had two fractures in my lower jaw. He looked me straight in the eye and said “We are going to have wire your jaw shut.”
The news took some time to resonate. I had been living a pretty normal life. The reality was I had to do something fast or risk having major surgery. I had one surgery on Wednesday and another on Friday. When I woke up from surgery on that Friday my jaw was wired shut.
In order to fight the infection a doctor installed a PICC line in my arm. With my jaw wired shut I can’t swallow pills, so this is the most effective method to receive antibiotics.
Two weeks have passed with having my jaw wired shut and I am getting into a routine. All my food has to be blended into liquid and I am losing weight. The hardest part is mental. In the beginning I was having a hard time. I told myself things aren’t that bad. I reminded myself that there are a lot of people with worse conditions, but I still felt down.
A couple of days in without being able to talk or eat solids I watched video by Jocko Willink titled Good (Click Here to Watch) The message set me straight. I made a list of everything I could do with a wired jaw. The list ranged from reading to learning to become a ventriloquist. I needed reminded that I have to look for the opportunity when I am challenged by adversity.
For a while I thought Snickers were going to be my Achilles Heel. Now I realized that delightful candy bar just made me tougher. Four more weeks to go, but I will make it. Who knows? Maybe I don't have an Achilles Heel after all.
How Does This Apply to Business
First, life is tough. Business is tough. Things won’t always go your way. When things go bad say “good.” Then look for the opportunity. Like Jocko says, as long as you can say the word good, then you are living. And if you are living then you still got some fight left in you.
Second, don’t wait to fix a problem. I walked around with a broken jaw for almost two weeks ignoring the problem. I’m going to be ok, but this could have led to a worse infection. If something is broken find the problem and fix it.
Sales are down? Find the problem and fix it.
Shipments aren’t arriving on time? Find the problem and fix it.
Employees aren’t happy? Find the problem and fix it.
I have learned that ignoring a problem instead of fixing it makes things worse. When you know something is wrong…fix it!
Until next time remember…you’re going to have to earn it.