Change is inevitable in business and life….
Change happens, it's the only constant in life.
But how you respond to change can have a major impact on your business.
Yet as humans, we seem to always have a FEAR of Change!
We look at change sometimes as a RISK or Negative.
Look at this past year and all the changes around the world with COVID-19. How did you handle those changes? Did you embrace it?
Or did you look at it in a negative light and only see the bad side of it?
I have been working online for almost 20 years (it will be 20 years in just a matter of months). This is the biggest year of changes to business online and offline!
For the first time, people realized what it is like to work from home as their jobs took them online. They learned the fun of balancing children and working from home, something I have managed to do. ( I have raised five kids while having a business from home)
We have seen this pandemic close out many businesses causing them to go bankrupt. At the same time, we have seen people become creative and start AMAZING new businesses and opportunities!
Why did some people see the new changes as a negative while others found a GREAT opportunity?
Without change, there is No Growth!
Without change, many of us would never leave our comfort zones.
Without change, we might miss out on amazing opportunities in life and business.
We need to learn how not to Hate Change Learn & Embrace it!
When you are faced with a change in your life and business, how do you handle it?
Do you welcome change?
Do you find creative ways to handle the challenges that come with the change.?
How was it some created successful businesses like the 7-year-old twin girls in Flordia with their dad?
We grow as a person when we face challenges in creative ways.
If we welcome change instead of working against them, we might start to see them as just one step in our personal development process.
Some changes will bring short-term advantages.
Some changes will bring disadvantages, and we have to find solutions to work our way through them. And guess what happens when we see the way through them? We GROW!
On a recent road trip through West Virginia, Google Maps didn't work. Yep, lost in the mountains of West Virginia. No google maps, no map. We literally had no idea where we were =-)
My daughter and I got a little sidetracked from our planned route. We had two choices.
- Embrace it
- Get Angry
Instead of looking at the situation as an awful situation, getting stressed out, and looking at the bad. We chose to embrace it and have fun! Had we not got sidetracked, we would not have had a chance to see the 3rd tallest bridge in the United States. We were able to view some beautiful parts of the country I have never visited. What an amazing blessing it was =-)
I also used this challenge as a way to figure out which direction we had to go. Using my common sense and the skills I had, I knew we had to travel North and West to get back to our home state of Michigan. That is exactly what we did until we were back on the right route. YES, it was an unplanned detour; yes, it added time to our trip. But we got to our final destination. I had to be flexible, embrace change, and experience new things, new opportunities!
The same in business, you have to be flexible at times and be READY to adapt. Change allows us to test our skills and to gain new skills.
If you let negative thinking get in the way, you will never reach your goals. You will probably stray way off course, and you might even give up. You will miss out on amazing opportunities!
How you meet change and challenges is going to help you navigate smoothly through the next challenge. And challenges and change are inevitable; it will happen! I guarantee every successful business owner has faced several changes throughout their business.
The difference between the businesses that are still standing and those who have not made it through the Covid-19 Pandemic?
Those business owners embraced the change. They looked for creative ways to run their businesses. We seen clothing manufacturers start making face-mask. We seen breweries start creating hand sanitizer. We seen sit down restaurants start to be take-out only. We seen gym owners create online classes. We seen teachers teach classes on Zoom. Church services began using Facebook Live or Zoom. I even saw hairstylists create at home coloring packages for their clients.
Who would have thought last year at this time we would have seen those changes? These are things these businesses would have never thought of doing! But they embraced change for a good! And they grew their knowledge, their skills and they are making it!
Yet some business owners chose to sit with the poor me attitude and not embrace change. They decided to blame the government or COVID, or the Chinese. I am not trying to discount the seriousness of any of this because it has definitely changed the world we live in, and we might never go back to the way things were!
Let's face if you make it through CoVid-19 changes (and you're continuing to adapt) you really have set up your business to be successful for the long term.
Think about how far ahead your business is now if you pushed through these changes =) You are prepared now for anything! Even if you feared technology before. You are ready to grow your business in ways you never thought of before, ways you were never forced to think about.
Embracing change and seeing is at POSITIVE is essential if you want to have a successful mindset.
5 things you can do to cultivate a successful business mindset.
1. Make a List of Changes You Have Experience and Their Outcome
Reflect on some of the big changes you have faced in your lifetime. Some of the big changes you have faced in your business. How did they impact you? How did they impact your business?
As you reflect on those changes, I am sure you will find a few you wish would never have happened. But I guarantee most on your list you will see some type of long-term benefit.
Write down a list of the positive results you have seen because of CHANGE.
Reflect back on this list whenever you face a new challenge, and you are not sure if you will be able to make your way through it.
Example:
Big Change Baby #3
When I became pregnant for my third daughter, I was angry, as I was done having kids, in my opinion. I was in the best shape of my life and had spent countless hours at the gym getting there. I had no plans for a 3rd child. But I embraced that beautiful baby girl.
Because of her and that pregnancy, I have the business I have today. Had I not gotten pregnant, not put on bed rest, I would not have been forced to make a change. That change led to me starting my business. A business that has allowed me to be there for my children every day. Enable me to homeschool my boys now. And sooo many other opportunities.
Example #2
As I am writing this article, it is 9-11, I think about the world's changes that took place on that awful day, for the good of the world. YES, we can constantly reflect on the bad, the tragedy of lives lost. (which is devastating the loss of life always is I am not trying to neutralize this fact) But what about the good that came from 9-11. The country came together in a way I had never experienced. People found God again after years of just living for themselves.
2. Start to Predict Upcoming Changes and Prepare Ahead of Time.
Sudden unexpected change can be shocking to us mentally and sometimes even physically.
If you can take a proactive approach, it will help you get ahead of the challenges that might come up with change.
Consider things that could happen, and develop a plan of action to get ahead of it. Be prepared will give you the confidence to tackle the challenge.
Example:
If you are pregnant and know you have a baby coming in 6-months. You prepare your home for the baby. But what about the challenges it might give you your business? Did you set up a plan for your business to continue to run smoothly when the baby is born?
Do you have a plan for your business if you became sick?
Do you have a plan for your business if you were hit by a hurricane?
3. Get Rid of Your Inner Critic.
Did you know we are our, our own worse self-critic?
Have you ever looked at a picture of yourself and looked at the flaws instead of your beauty?
What about the critic inside your self that says you can't do it?
Do you think you are not smart enough?
Do you think you are not good enough?
Do you think it is not possible for you?
Do you think it is to hard to find clients?
Do you believe there is no way out of your situation?
Or it is easy for everyone else, but not for you?
Negative self-talk and limiting beliefs can destroy your confidence. The confidence you need to overcome challenges and changes.
As humans are the first natural defense method is to critic things, ourselves, people, and situations. It is a way we try to protect ourselves. When really, this type of thinking can prevent you from growing and embracing the change for the good.
So how do you break the habit?
- The first step is you have to recognize you're doing it =-) Admit it!
- Change those negative thoughts around, and turn them into positive.
It takes practice, so don't beat yourself up =-)
Example #1:
Start with small things, when your kids or spouse is driving you crazy, instead of dwelling on what drives you crazy, start focusing on all the things you love about them.
Example #2
When you face a challenge in your business, instead of focus on WHY it is happening to me? I am never going to get past this. Look at it for a way to GROW; I am so happy I get to learn from this experience. I am going to learn so much working through this! This is an amazing opportunity to find a new way to do this. There is ALWAYS a solution to every problem.
4. Surround Yourself with Positive People
How we feel about change is an essential part of our mindset. The way we think rubs off on others, so surround yourself with people who are successful and growth-minded and approach change positively. You can draw on their positivity for inspiration whenever you need it.
5. Look at the Big Picture
Change is usually just a bump in the road. It means you might have a tough time this week, this month, or this quarter. But if you look at the big picture, you will often see that this change opens the door to new opportunities. Try to foster this perspective the moment change strikes, and you'll deal with it more calmly.
