The best way I can describe what we are going through right now, business-wise, is the Great Pause. A lot of our livelihoods are currently on hold while we search for a solution. We can look at what’s going on and be overwhelmed and afraid, or we can see it as an opportunity.
How often in life do we get the chance to just bring everything we know to a halt? Not very often, I’d say. But when these things happen, as they do, they often end with a lot of new ideas and discoveries. Crisis is a time to take action. Seize this opportunity to take a step back for a moment, maybe take a deep breath in, and really analyze your business.
Maybe your business has not been doing well for awhile now. This is your chance to take a look at what in your business possibly needs work or some guidance. Maybe things have been going great and this quarantine put a stop to that. Take the time to re-imagine all that your business could be, not simply what it has been in the past. The world around us changes constantly whether we agree with it or not. It’s best to take it with a grain of salt and push forward to keep up with the ever-changing universe.
However, there are still those that refuse to acknowledge this change. They are those who aren’t welcoming it with open arms and instead choose to do absolutely nothing until things “return to normal”. These people, sadly, will most likely be left behind in our new version of the world; it waits for nobody, but it does give you a chance to catch up. The first step is being open to it.
Welcome adversity into your life and watch the growth begin. Not necessarily in revenue, or in customers-through-the-door, but from within. You, as a leader, as an entrepreneur, must always be learning. Always bettering yourself, seeing different perspectives and new points of view. Staying one step ahead of the game so that you can be one step closer to winning. When we focus our energy on being the best we can be and doing the best we can with what we have right now, the monetary and customer growth will inevitably follow suit. Don’t get me wrong, this is a tough issue we are all facing. Nobody said business, or life for that matter, was going to be easy. We just have to toughen up right along with it and carry on our merry ways.
Perfection does not exist. If we ever start to think that we have all the answers, that’s usually a good time to reflect. Ask yourself if you are really living to your full potential. Is your business functioning at it’s full potential? What things have been going well, versus some of the mistakes we made along the way? We all have areas that might be lacking, even if we are successful overall. It is in this pursuit of the perfection we can never reach that we have growth. In ourselves as leaders and teachers to be able guide those around us so that they can grow, too. The rest comes naturally.
To look at this time as anything other than a chance to learn and grow would be foolish. Everything happens for a reason, as they say. It’s up to you to do a little digging into what those reasons might be and how you can use them to your advantage.
