There’s a yin and yang aspect of running a business. If your only experience of yin and yang is seeing the symbol on a poster on a dorm room wall, a simplified explanation is that yin is a passive force and yang is an active force.
In the context of business:
- Yang might be setting and pursuing goals, hustling for sales, and building marketing campaigns.
- Yin might be noticing changes in the market, feeling tension from a particular member of your team, or working on a side project with no planned value.
Entrepreneurs tend to play heavy into the yang side of the balance. We’re driven, type-A, make things happen kinds of people. This is why the Yin side of business is an opportunity.
Back in the day when I did BJJ, I remember learning how to sweep someone from the guard. Step-by-step, I learned the perfect body position, where the most leverage with your legs is, how to adjust your hips for power, and etc.
However, even after perfectly drilling the move, I still couldn’t sweep someone. Why? Knowing what to do was all Yang. The missing component was Yin: when to do it. You have to learn to read your opponent, to feel when they are off balance or shifting their weight, and know when to fire the sweep in order to be successful.
The same dynamic plays out in business. You can’t impose your will onto the market and buy or build your way into success. You have to listen to the music in order to dance.
How can you bring more Yin into your business? Do less and be more.