We often undermine our own success, sometimes unknowingly. While we aspire for success and work hard, our choices and attitudes can lead us to failure. Read below about Chapters 1 and 2 of the book, 13 Ways to Kill Your Community.

Chapter 1: “Forget the Water”
We can survive for 3 minutes without air, 3 days without water, and 3 weeks without food. We can survive without just about everything else. Our communities were founded at or near water—it’s central to our existence. If you don’t have enough water to feed your community, it can’t grow or sustain itself. We’ve seen the consequences of that across California. Quality of water is equally critical to our success. We often take for granted that our water will be safe and clean, but it takes only a situation like Flint to remind us of what can happen when we aren’t vigilant. The first of the 13 Ways to ensure the failure of your community is to forget about the importance of water.

Chapter 2: “Don’t Attract Business”
To kill your community, do not draw new businesses; especially if they may be competing with an existing business, including yours. The value of competition gives us better price, quality, selection and service. In communities where competition is limited, people choose to drive to where they get the benefits of competition. When they travel elsewhere their money leaves with them and is incredibly difficult to get back. We all say we believe in the value of competition, but the only way to prove it is when we support it even when the competition is “against” us. If you want your community to fail, don’t attract competition and you can have a secure monopoly on failure.

Achieving success requires embracing change and having genuine faith in our community. If we believe in our ability to succeed, we have a chance; if we believe otherwise, we will consistently prove ourselves right.

Learn more about Chapters 3 & 4 next month!

This article was published in the Venango Chamber’s February 2024 VenangoWorks! Newsletter.