As business owners, we made the choice to risk in order to have more control over our destiny than those who settle for a job. We recognize that we are not the victims of fate or chance.
Changing our lives is a choice that we made. In reality, each one of us possesses the ability to choose to improve our lives! Here, I am going to share with you a concept for doing just that. If you take it to heart, this will empower you to exercise greater control over the quality of your future.
To preface my message, we are talking about a word that during every presidential election we see and hear everywhere. Can you guess what that word is? That’s right – CHANGE! Change is a very broad term, isn’t it?
It can be positive or negative, out of our control, or under our control. Today I am talking about positive change that is under our control. Words that would express this type of change include growth, transform, and improve.
How resistant to change are you?
Do you prefer routine and predictability over uncertainty and adventure? Or, do you relish pursuing excitement and risk daily, sometimes called adrenaline junky? Of the two categories just described, which would you say would be most resistant to change? Would you agree with me that each of us has a certain level of resistance to change; some more than others?
Some people change almost immediately upon sensing dissatisfaction, while others require experiencing a crisis, like a heart attack, before making changes in their lives. Most fall in the middle of this change spectrum. Would you also agree with me that overcoming our resistance to change is often a critical ingredient to personal growth and improving our lives? So how do we overcome our resistance to change?
A formula for overcoming resistance to change
In college, I had a calculus professor who maintained that all complex relationships can be better understood if mathematically modelled. In fact, he stated that complex relationships are not totally understood until properly mathematically modelled. The mathematical model that I am going to provide will give you insight into how we can improve our lives. Are you ready? The formula is: (D x V) + F > R.
If R is our resistance to change, then we must muster enough of something to overcome that resistance. The left side of the equation, (D x V) + F, must be greater than R, the right side. D stands for dissatisfaction with some aspect our current life. V is our vision of how we must have our life to be. (Not wish, not want, but must). And F represents that first step that we need to take to affect the desired results. Martin Luther King stated: “Faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”
Robyn Davidson in her book, “Tracks,” which chronicles her 1700 mile journey on camel across the outback of Australia, states: “The two important things I did learn were that you are as powerful and strong as you allow yourself to be and that the most difficult part of an endeavor is taking the first step, making the first decision.”
As business owners, you know about the excitement of overcoming the fear of taking that first step. The first step is important, but looking at the formula, where does the power lie? Which is more powerful, multiplication or addition?
So how do we increase D and V so that we can overcome our resistance to change?
For example, what does complacency do to our level of dissatisfaction regarding our current circumstances? Complacency lowers our dissatisfaction level. What does having a greater vision of where we must be do to our level dissatisfaction? A greater vision increases our dissatisfaction because it increases the gap between where we are currently and where we must be.
Dissatisfaction stems from a belief that I can achieve more than I have.
It requires the belief that the vision is possible. Do you see the power behind this formula to affect positive change in our lives?
In summary, if we want to significantly improve our lives, be it financial, relational, physical, or spiritual, we must overcome our resistance to change by creating a bigger vision for our future, resulting in greater dissatisfaction with our present, and then muster the courage to take the first step toward that vision.
It ain’t over till it’s over
To close, I issue to all of you a call to action. Dream again! No matter at what stage you are in life, dream again! Then allow yourself to deeply feel the dissatisfaction of where you are currently and overcome your fear of taking the first step.
Remember that big dream when you first started your new business?
Recall the excitement, the faith, and the energy that you drew from that faith to affect great accomplishment. So many business owners have allowed the day-to-day grind to steal that dream and the faith that they had in that dream! They no longer believe in the vision that they once had. Are you one of those? Do you want to know how to re-create a vision that will propel you forward? Then take that first step.
Find someone who can give you a fresh perspective. Someone who can help you blow through what’s been holding you back.
Overcome your resistance to change! You can transform your business into a profitable enterprise that works without you!
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Where’s My Cash Gone?