Release Your Heaviness with a Plan
Black Friday - the day retailers hope will put their books “in the Black” – ie – make them profitable. The problem? The nonstop media coverage of impending disaster clashes with the consumer-driven ads this time of year. The result? A sense of Hopelessness and Helplessness. Heaviness of heart.
Whether you are a retailer, a business person of another sort, an employee, an employer, this is a spooky time. Things out of your control hang in the balance. And there’s the key word: CONTROL. Management experts have done study after study on how to engage people in the midst of change. One constant they find is the issue of CONTROL.
When you think you have Control, you are better able to handle what comes your way. When you think you don’t have Control, you feel frustrated, helpless, pressured, upset, resistant.
So, what’s the lesson? Create control.
If you manage people, get them involved and engaged in coming up with a Plan to manage this temporary downturn. At home, get your family involved in a plan instead of dictating what will and will not be done this year. And for yourself, Plan Plan Plan in small increments.
At this juncture, it would be foolish for anyone to realistically think they can predict a 5 or 10-year plan. No one knows what will happen in January, let alone January 2019. But you CAN make some plans for the next 3 months, 6 months, 9 months on what YOU will do.
If you are a business, make a short list: Three things I will do to Market better. Three things I will do to cut costs without cutting value. Three things I will do to improve my relationships in my network. Three things I will do to leverage what I already have. Three ways I will WOW my customers and encourage them to continue to use my services/product.
Do the same for your personal life to ensure that you have life balance: Three things I will do to reconnect with family and friends. Three things I will do to stay healthy. Three things I will do to rein in costs without hurting myself or my family. Three ways I will contribute to my community to make us all stronger.
Most of us can do THREE more things. Most of us can perform difficult tasks if we feel there is an end to that road. And, when we make a PLAN, we take ourselves out of the role of Victim and put ourselves in the driver’s seat.
All we can do about the mess generated at the top is to continue to let our leaders know what we expect of them, and how disappointed we are in our current situation. But we can’t turn the USA Titanic around all by our lonesome. In Hawaii we have a saying, “The fish rots from the head down.”
What we CAN do is create a semblance of Control for our own lives. Set an example to our employees and our families; and keep on keepin’ on.
If you know me at all, you know that I only write and speak about what I do and experience myself. I sat down over this long weekend and created a new plan. I’ve had a strategic plan from the beginning of 2008 I’ve been following. I tore it up and started over. I noticed I was paddling upstream with the old plan. Things have changed. Oh Well! Now What?
I noticed immediately that the heaviness had lifted. I noticed I felt good about the future and my role in it. I felt hopeful again that I can and will provide useful information to the clients and loved ones I care about. I want that for you. Tear up your old Plan. Create a shorter one with solid action that you can take right now. Take your life back.
Good luck!
Remember – we need you, we need you to be healthy, and we need your healthy dreams to come true!
Beth
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© 2008 Beth Terry Seminars, Inc. All Rights Reserved
