If You're DoingThis, You're Not Changing

When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves. 
 ~Victor Frankl

A few years ago, I excitedly took on the challenge of being "Managing Partner" for my organization here in the Maritimes. I was pretty excited and on fire about the whole idea, but I had no idea what I was in for.  I was, in effect, burning through my business, and didn't even know it. Let me explain.

At first, I wanted to make sure that I did everything right, so I simply focused on continuing what we had done for the years prior to my taking over, as it seemed to work, but it was not a pattern for growth.  This being a sales industry, I figured that as long as I was face to face with clients I would be ok. 

Wrong!!

What I discovered was I was spending a lot of time talking and working "in" my business and I let the things like marketing and staff development slip which resulted in me losing staff and declining sales.

Being blind to what was going on, I saw sales falling and thought that I had to be out making more sales.  It was a revolving pattern of failure that I was in and I didn't even know I was in it.

Enter Lorrie Jollimore from Charlottetown, PEI. 

We were sitting at a table in the Delta Hotel and were discussing Lorrie's participation in the communications program that I was working on, when she started talking about how she was building her own business and what she was doing to do it.  As she was talking about marketing, I was totally engrossed in her enthusiasm and in her knowledge, while at the same time I was mentally going through what I wasn't doing in my own business to build it.  One thing she said really caught my attention: Unless you're changing the status quo of your business, you're not growing.

That was it!

I was just working in circles and never seemed to be getting ahead.  I was doing what I had been doing for years before and I was expecting different results.  I was blissfully failing and didn't even know it.

Ever since that conversation, things have changed because I have changed:  I started pushing barriers... my own as well as my clients.

With Lorries help I started a website even before my company started one.  I caught a lot of flak for that, but it pushed them to develop one.

I wrote MUST Thinking to use as a marketing tool to connect with people who would not have been my usual client.  I'm still hearing about that from some people.

I started a small company to bring business and motivational speakers into the area.  I was almost fired for that one.

I developed E-Motion against direct orders of my boss who said it would never take, and now today he has his own newsletter that is doing quite well.

Why am I telling you all this?

To tell you one point: Unless you challenge your habits and fears and make purposeful changes, you will never become what you want to become nor will you rise to where you want to be. 

It's impossible.

There will be lots of pushback from people who either don't understand what you want to do, or are exquisitely happy living in status quo.

But you MUST forge ahead.

Your future success and happiness depend on your boldness and commitment to change.

I recently read Seth Godin's blog on "How to Change Everything", and he broke it down in three easy steps (I added the fourth.):

1. Challenge the status quo. Unless you're upsetting someone, then you're not changing.

2. Create a culture around the change. Look for ways to build excitement and consistency around the change so that people embrace it.

3. Commit to results. What good is making a change, creating a culture, if you don't commit to what you could create? This happens in many companies and it's called "Flavour of the month." They wait for the old culture to regain control so that they can go back to "Status quo as normal". No, commit to the results in your words and in your actions and you will get lasting results.

4. Look for another Status Quo to challenge. You can't grow if you only make one change. Be constantly on the lookout for better ways to do everything.

This week, will you slash and burn the old habits and rules that are keeping you back from your breakthrough?  Will you run through the smoke of criticism and ridicule and douse the old fire of complacency? Will you willingly examine your own routines, stack them in a pile and burn them till they are just a bad memory?

If you are willing, you can change your world today, you just need to challenge your old ways.

Will you?

Make this your best week ever.

Paul