Tweet

You Choose To Be Affected By Outside Circumstances

Written by: Bill Gschwind

Article Overview: Change is happening all around us all the time. The way in which we respond to change determines whether we succeed or fail. Business leaders during challenging times must remain focused on success, not just survival. Engaging the assistance of a business coach will cure the myopic view that prevents changing tactics and causes owners to ride their company all the way to bankruptcy.

You Choose To Be Affected By Outside Circumstances

You’re situation is not dictated by external circumstances. You are where you are because of your reaction to external circumstances.

For most of you, this is where you trash this article, or me. At the very least, you are putting it aside and looking for any one of the thousands of articles that let you off the hook by blaming outside circumstances for your difficult times.

For the couple of you brave enough to read on, let me explain. Change is a constant. Change is good. We hear it all the time, and we prove to others how enlightened we are by repeating it at every opportunity. But when the rubber hits the road, most of us say, “Change is good. You go first!”

Successful people operate in parallel universes. There is the universe as we would like it to be, and the universe that is. Leaders are charged with seeing a potential future and influencing others to follow the yellow brick road to success. But leaders also know how to achieve results, when to forge ahead, and when to change tactics.

Forty years ago, the Swiss had the corner on the watch making. Along came the quartz movement watch and overnight their dominant position disappeared. Did you know it was the Swiss who developed the quartz movement? The manufacturers of Swiss watches could not adopt the innovation they developed because “it was not the way watches were always made.” Japanese and U.S. watchmakers acquired the technology from the Swiss developers and dominant position of the Swiss dissolved overnight.

We may be going through a time that is no less revolutionary. A political battle is taking place in the U.S. You may be engaged in it to one degree or another. The result is unknown and the effects, at this point, are not positive. I encourage you to engage that battle and fight for your principles which ever side you take. But for your business, you must be able to switch your tactics while remaining focused on your vision.

One of your universes can be the political or economic environment you believe is the “right” one. Your other universe should be the circumstances you are dealt and developing tactics that maximize your opportunities. I’m not suggesting that you sell out your principles to the almighty dollar. Quite the opposite. Fighting the good fight requires that you live to fight another day. You may loose the occasional battle, but you must stay focused on living another day to win the war.

This is where an outside advisor can be vital. A business coach may not have the specific answers to your challenges, but he is not invested in your particular circumstances. A good coach will challenge your thinking and help you to let go of “the way you’ve always done it.” Your coach will help you develop another tactic to respond to external circumstances. It is your choice to swim upstream and succeed when all around you are being dragged down by the current.

Related Articles
  Do Rich People Think Any Differently?
  Are You Exercising Your Right to Choose?
  The Key to Staying Motivated
  Create Hero’s Everywhere
  Are You Wasting Time in Overwhelm

Article Tags: developers, difficult times, dominant position, external circumstances, forty years, hook, influencing others, innovation, parallel universes, quartz movement, rubber hits the road, swiss watches, universe, watchmakers, yellow brick road
Referred by: http://www.processspecialist.com/



Related Forum Posts
Re: The secret to happiness - Happiness comes from within. We choose whether we want to be happy or not. Circumstances can influence our feelings, but in the end, it's up to us how we deal with our circumstances, positively or negatively. I admire anyone who can stay strong and be happy through adversity. There will always be challenges that we face, but I believe that if we face them with our heads held high, the odds of overcoming them are much greater. This reminds me of the movie "The Pursuit of Happyness." Happiness spelled wrong for a reason. One of Will Smith's greatest movies. I encourage you all to watch it as it's very inspiring.
Re: Do bigger monitors save time? - Hi Kevin, Thanks for the welcome! I would agree that two 17's would work well but really, any size would work. I'd be careful in going after the larger monitors that are traditional heights but are really wide, unless you have the desk space for it. Choose your monitors carefully as well to ensure that you try to find ones that have a small frame outside of the actual monitor screen. That way, when you put them together, the screens look a little more uniform. Last tip for either multiple monitors or one large one... Speed your mouse motion up. If you don't, you'll spend forever scrolling from one screen to another or across a larger screen. It'll take a bit to get used to at first but after a few days, using a mouse with regular motion will seem painstakingly slow!
Re: Do bigger monitors save time? - [quote="Raye":k99n31np]Hi Kevin, Thanks for the welcome! I would agree that two 17's would work well but really, any size would work. I'd be careful in going after the larger monitors that are traditional heights but are really wide, unless you have the desk space for it. Choose your monitors carefully as well to ensure that you try to find ones that have a small frame outside of the actual monitor screen. That way, when you put them together, the screens look a little more uniform. Last tip for either multiple monitors or one large one... Speed your mouse motion up. If you don't, you'll spend forever scrolling from one screen to another or across a larger screen. It'll take a bit to get used to at first but after a few days, using a mouse with regular motion will seem painstakingly slow![/quote:k99n31np] Hi Raye, Thanks for the tips! But if choosing monitors with smaller frames outside of the actual screen space is important when using 2 monitors...then wouldn't using a laptop and a secondary monitor be a bad idea? And are there any current monitor brands and models you would recommend? For instance, for the same price, should someone go for a slightly larger screen or a smaller one with Dell's "Ultrasharp" feature?
How To Add A Paypal Button To Blogger - Hi Brendan, The blog is looking good. If possible, try to post something on it every day. You can vary the length of the posts, just something short when time is tight. There are two parts to getting the Paypal code on your site. First is getting the Paypal code! Second is getting it on your site! HOW TO GET YOUR PAYPAL CODE 1. Log in to Paypal 2. Click Merchant Services 3. Find the Key Features box on the right and click Donations. 4. Donations Page 1: Fill in the fields with your Donation name and a ref no. (the latter is not necessary). Choose a "Donate" button - I suggest the one with the pic of the credit cards beneath. It is up to you whether you "encrypt" or not. As you do not have a website there is no need to go to "Donations Page 2" for "more options", so you can just click "Create Button Now". 5. On the new page, click "Select All" for the "HTML Code for Websites" box and copy and paste the code to your blog. HOW TO GET YOUR PAYPAL DONATION BUTTON ON BLOGGER 1. Go to your Blogger.com dashboard. 2. Click the "Layout" tab. 3. Click "Add A Gadget" 4. Scroll down to HTML/JavaScript and click the + sign. 5. A small screen will pop up and you can PASTE your Paypal Donation Button code there and add a title if you wish. 6. Click SAVE on the small screen. 7. Now, back on the main screen you can preview and then SAVE. If all has gone well, you should now have a Paypal Donation button on your blog. === Best wishes, David H
Avoid Franchise Mistakes - I Came across these 7 tips for helping you avoid costly mistakes when buying a franchise & thought they would be helpful... It takes a lot of money to build a business, and you certainly don't want to waste any. Check this list of 7 costly mistakes to avoid. 1. Letting emotions rule. Falling in love with a franchise concept is a common mistake. Don't let your emotions guide your decisions. Use your head, do your due diligence and take the time to thoroughly investigate the franchisor's offering. 2. No professional team. Don't try to do your own financials, contract reviews, or negotiating. The cost of professional franchise attorneys, accountants, and advisors is money well spent. 3. Too little cash. Lack of capital is the number one reason franchisees fail. Item 7 in the UFOC will tell you how much money you'll need with a low and high range. Be smart-go with the high range. Then ask current franchisees if the numbers are high enough. 4. Penny wise and pound foolish. Choosing one franchise over another because the initial franchisee fees are lower is shortsighted. It assumes that all franchises are alike and nothing could be further from the truth. Choose the franchise with the proven concept and strongest track record. 5. Too much help. Payroll is the biggest part of overhead for most franchise businesses. New franchisees often hire too many people or pay too much in wages. A good franchisor will provide a good staffing plan. Stick to the plan. 6. No comparison. Never buy expensive equipment, supplies or inventory without shopping around first. Even if your franchisor offers group purchasing, do your own research, shop as many vendors as you can, consider aftermarket suppliers, and weigh different financing options (loans or leases). 7. Marketing blunders. As a new business owner, you're going to be targeted by every ad salesperson around. Ignore them. Follow your franchisor's marketing plan to the letter to avoid wasting thousands.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Improve E-mail: Avoid the Quicksand

Five Daily Marketing Habits to Increase Sales

How Many Buckets Do You Need for Retirement?

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.