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Act your way to a new way of thinking – get disoriented.

Bob Parsons of GoDaddy says simply “get and stay out of your comfort zone”. I agree and would add that adults don’t learn unless we are disoriented.

When we believe we ”know”, that is when we stop learning. We must be disoriented from the comfortable zone we live in.

Learning is helpful, but teaching is usually a waste of time. Teaching is someone filling my head with information when I’m not disoriented enough to learn. Learning is me filling my life with a new way of living.

We do not think our way to a new way of acting.
We act our way to a new way of thinking.

Our education system has it backwards. Therefore, give people new ideas when they are in a place that they want to learn them and they will stick. ”Teach” them the same ideas when they are not disoriented from what they already know in their heads about the subject, and you’ve both wasted your time. The old adage “more is caught than taught”.

Business owners best learn and adapt when they are disoriented enough to gain new Clarity (vision for the future – they see it), that brings Hope (they believe they can do it), that allows them to take measured Risk (they will take action). If they have Clarity about where they are going, they will have Hope, and will take the Risk to learn and adapt. Clarity, Hope and Risk.

Healthy disorientation happens best in community. Business owners rarely live in community, but are taught to go it alone, which gives them even less feedback to disorient them, making them all the more sure that there myopic view of the world is just fine.

John Wayne is dead and we should have buried the rugged individualist with him. Get into community, get disoriented from your reality, and keep learning. The more I learn the less I know.

Clarity, Hope and Risk – growing a successful business.

In the big picture there are really only three things we need to grow a Mature Business.

Clarity

Successful business owners know where they are going and when they intend to be there. They have a vision for the future that drives everything they do. Do you know where you’re going? What does your business look like at Maturity? Get clarity on where you’re going – it’s the first step in growing a Mature Business.

Hope

When we get Clarity on where we’re going, that creates Hope. We know where we’re going and we have something to begin to invest in mentally and emotionally that gets us excited about the future. He who aims at nothing hits it every time, but those who have a clear direction are busy getting after it. Do you have Hope for your business? If not, you need more Clarity on where you’re going and when you expect to be there.

Risk

Clarity brings Hope, and Hope allows us to take measured Risks to get there. Bob Parsons says “Get and stay out of your comfort zone.” It’s the only way to grow a business. Ray Krock was a little more blunt – “If you don’t want to take risks, get the hell out of business.” If you aren’t taking Risks, you don’t have Hope, probably because you don’t have Clarity on where you’re going.

Clarity creates Hope, and Hope allows us to take Risks. Successful business owners have all three.

Wandering and Wondering In Business

Are you wandering through your business wondering what it could be like when/if…?

We almost always get something close to what we intend. Most people never think about what they want out of life, so they never figure out what their business should look like to support a life of significance. As a result, most people never accomplish the things that would have made their lives count for so much more. We wander through life wondering how it could be different.

I talk to people all the time who can give me some picture of an idyllic life they find attractive, but being able to verbalize what something might look like some time in the undefined future is much different than intending to achieve it.

Let’s not wander through life wondering what we could have done if….

Bad plans carried out violently many times yield good results. It’s not how good your plan is, but how commited you are to the bad plan you’ve got. What does your ideal lifestyle look like? What impact are you making. WHEN do you want to be there?

What does your business need to look like to support your ideal lifestyle. WHEN will it get there (maturity)?

Clarity brings Hope, and Hope allows us to take measured Risks. Wandering through our business only makes us wonder what it could have been like if…