By Bret Biggart
I talk a lot about solar power, this industry of ours, and business and entrepreneurship generally.
I also talk a lot about addiction, recovery, and sobriety — specifically mine.
These things, to me, are very connected.
On the latter, this is a big month. First, it’s September, which is National Recovery Month, and Saturday was National Sober Day. It’s an important occasion for folks to take stock and talk about their own journeys — and for people who need help to get it.
Second, I got my sobriety coin last week: I’m now 13 years clear of my drug and alcohol addiction. It’s always going to be a struggle, but it sure is good to have gone to sleep sober for 4,750 straight nights and woken up sober for 4,750 straight mornings.
More than all that, there are lessons I’ve learned through recovery have not only made me a better person, but also helped make this a better company. Some of them have pretty well burrowed into Freedom Solar’s DNA. Here are three:
1. Focus on what you can control.
Recovering from my addiction meant not worrying about outcomes or challenges that I can’t do anything about. No matter what happens, I will be serene.
It’s the same with the solar business: certain things — like interest rates, election results, tariffs or supply chains — are going to affect this business, even though there’s nothing I can do to affect them.
There are things I have some control over, though. I can build a great, customer-oriented team, and I can help make sure that service is part of our culture. I can also structure the business to make sure that the buck stops with us — any issue our customers have, from solar panel installation to the computer app, they can call us to take care of it.
That’s made us a better company, and I think the vast majority of our customers would agree. You read so many stories in this industry about shady solar dealers selling thousands of dollars-worth of panels to someone, then vanishing when it’s time to install them, turn them on, or fix something.
By focusing on what we can control, and by taking responsibility for as much as of it we can, we’re so much better off.
2. Find a great team.
I never could have gotten sober on my own. There’s no way. And that’s true with most people — I don’t know anyone who has achieved long-term sobriety without a network of people to make it possible.
Well, guess what: I also don’t know anyone who’s created a successful business without the help of smart, creative, and energetic people. There’s always too much for one person or an artificially tiny clique of people to do. In the same way, one person could never come up with the range of ideas that companies feed on to grow and thrive.
I rely on the Freedom Solar team. I need their perspectives. I count on their honest feedback and creativity about the opportunities and challenges we face.
It may seem heroic, or even easier, to try to do it all yourself. But at best, you’re probably wasting your time — and at worst, you’re hurting yourself.
3. Be Action-Oriented.
My recovery from my addition really started the day I realized I needed to take action. No one was going to fix it; if Bret Biggart wanted things to get better, then Bret Biggart had to do something different.
A lot of times, those actions are straight-forward and even obvious, but that doesn’t make them easy. Still, you see what has to be done — help people, participate, and stay plugged in to the program, etc. — and you do it. And then good things happen; you get relief. And the more you act, the more relief you get.
Well, your job — and your life, really — can be the same way, right? There are always a dozen (or several dozen) things that need to be done right now. Then there are a million other little things that you really need to do but would rather put off.
You don’t want to burn out, obviously, and there are only so many working hours in the day. But just like in recovery, when you’re taking action, things are probably getting better … And when you aren’t, things are probably getting worse. As it’s been said to me, this program is simple but not easy.
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Honestly, I could probably go on like this all day. And rest assured, there will be days where I do: I’m grateful and excited to use my story to hopefully connect with someone who’s also struggling with addiction.
And while I’d never wish the pain and suffering from that time of my life on anyone, I know I’ve learned a lot from the process of recovering from them. My life is certainly better for it — and my company is too.