I know you want to make your business the absolute best it can be, right? Well, I can lead you to the water, but I certainly can't make you drink... What have you done so far in order to guarantee your ideal life/business?
If you’re like us all, probably not as much as you could or should – am I correct? In a recent webinar that I attended, the conversation turned to what it takes to make changes in our lives and our businesses. Even when we do not feel satisfied with the way things are going, we tend to continue along the same paths; we do the same things (run the same ads, use the same policies and procedures, sell to the same people) over and over. This maintains the status quo – not helping to change or grow. It’s the saying “do the same thing over and over and expect different results.” It just doesn’t happen that way.
So what do we do? It is very scary to just jump in with both feet… I think about summer time and going into the water to swim. Do I jump right in and freeze for a second but then enjoy the water OR do I go slowly – feeling every inch the cold til I turn around and get back out because I’m not willing to get all wet and freezing. What do you do?
In the conversation today, we talked about changing because of a pain that we’re suffering. In the case of the water and swimming, if I really wanted to go swimming but I couldn’t stand the pain of the cold, I would take a deep breath and jump. The pain of the one was less (it was over sooner) than the pain of the other (the cold inch by inch…). It can be said that change will come when the pain of staying the same is worse than the pain of change itself.
What does that mean? In other words, we need to be motivated to change in order to actually step away from the inertia of life as is. And if that inertia is driven by prior values, it makes it even more difficult to change. But, unless we want to always remain in the same situation, we must take a chance – step away from the preconceptions and the fears, and decide that we have to do something in order to get to a new place in our lives and in our businesses.
Now is a great time to take that step. It’s the first of a new year – a great time to make goals, look at opportunities and take a risk (even a small one) to help you move yourself ahead. I urge you to decide to jump in today – never mind the cold, it will be over soon, and take the plunge. Choose to try something new and see what happens!
