Small Business Success: Thriving During Change (And Landing On Your Feet!) > NetSparsh

Home
>
Small Business
>
Small Business Success: Thriving During Change (And Landing On Your Feet!)

Small Business Success: Thriving During Change (And Landing On Your Feet!)

If I had $1.00 every time I heard someone say " I don't like change or, change makes me uncomfortable" I'd be a millionaire. Some people thrive on change ? they love it and even create more of it. Others view change with anxiety and resistance. So often, we don't associate potential, excitement and wonder with change. Instead, we react to it; we try to control it; we create situations and problems to avoid dealing with it. We experience change daily in many forms ? the clothes we wear, the food we eat, the conversations we have, traffic patterns, the WEATHER.

While change is a constant in life, some changes (mergers and acquisitions, downsizing, reorganizations, job relocations, promotions, divorces, marriages, war) affect our lives on a bigger scale with impact on multiple areas of our business and personal lives.

One of my clients has been in business for eighteen years. Up until five years ago, her business was thriving. In the period of one year; her client base was reduced by 50%, dramatically affecting her net income and her entire life! The timing couldn't have been worse. She had just purchased a new home, a new car, and tickets for an Alaskan holiday. It felt like the rug had been pulled out from under her with so many changes happening all at once! Being in transition (the process or an instance of changing one form, activity, state, or place to another) brought up uncertainty, confusion, anxiety and the "F" word. FEAR. Big Time! Re-evaluating her values, life purpose, and needs helped her to identify new business directions and goals with greater clarity and confidence. Five years later, it's a whole new ball game with plenty of home runs.

Creating a Defensive Strategy

If you're facing (or anticipating) one change of several changes, these tips will help you navigate through transition and help you land on your feet:

1. Acknowledge what's happening. Get real about your situation and eliminate denial. Identify what you can control and/or influence to gain perspective in devising a strategy for action.

2. Invite collaboration. Brainstorming is an excellent resource for pooling knowledge by gathering other points of view for creative problem solving.

3. Ramp up self-care. Taking good care of yourself physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually is a key factor in staying strong and focused. Establishing some daily routines/habits provides consistency and a sense of control. (exercise schedules, morning and evening routines).

4. Need to vent and/or have someone just listen? Build a support team of family, friends, colleagues and or professionals who will hear you with objectivity and encouragement. Sometimes we just need to be heard!

5. Interrupt and replace negative self-talk. Fear tends to view situations through a narrow lens with an emphasis on problematic thinking and worse case scenarios. Take charge of your attitude. Instead of focusing on the worst, expect the best.

6. Be engaged in pleasurable or stimulating activities. Lighten up and take time to relax with friends and family.

7. Recall a past experience you successfully transitioned. How did you do it? What can you take from your past success to use in future experiences? Drawing from personal history builds confidence and stirs the creative juices.

8. Be curious. Ask yourself ? "How does this situation compel me to grow? What can I learn about myself, my life from this change? What opportunities does this change offer me? What can I take from this experience to improve myself/my life? Use what you discover to move you forward.

9. See yourself in the future, at the other side of the transition. Create a vivid picture in your mind of how you see your life. Incorporate this image as part of your daily routine (see #3) and use this picture to pull you forward through your transition.

No matter what is happening in your life, the one power you always retain is how you choose to view yourself and your situation. It's your life; make it the best!

____________________________________________

Lorraine Cohen of Powerfull Living (http://www.powerfull-living.biz) is a Business Coach and Life Strategist and Team Member of Solo-E (http://www.Solo-E.com). Integrating her therapy background with coaching, she helps people make more money, manage their time, increase self-assurance, resolve inner conflict, stay focused on the results they want, and balance work and home life.

____________________________________________

*********** Find more articles like this at http://www.Solo-E.com ? Keeping Solo Entrepreneurs Juiced in Business and in Life. Our team of Solo Entrepreneurs are comprised of small business experts who support others in finding business success with the flexibility and freedom to have a life, too. Network with other freelancers, self-employed and Solo Entrepreneurs in our forums, enjoy our articles and newsletter, and find other online training opportunities. ***********

In The News:

This RSS feed URL is deprecated, please update. New URLs can be found in the footers at https://news.google.com/news

Inc.com
Why Small Businesses Are Sticking With Facebook
Inc.com
Small business owners don't want customers to draw any connection between their ads and Cambridge Analytica, or to be unnerved by how their data is used. But even wary owners, especially those trying to reach a wide audience on a small advertising ...
Sheryl Sandberg delivered a passionate, defiant defense of Facebook's businessCNBC
Some small businesses rethink Facebook advertising after scandalPress Herald

all 923 news articles »

Inc.com
Tax Cuts Pump Up Small Business Optimism
Inc.com
Twenty-two percent of businesses also plan to hire more employees. Despite the short-term optimism, predicting the long-term impact of the cuts is difficult, and 66% of respondents say that they don't think the cuts will significantly affect their ...
Small Business Optimism Soars to Highest Levels Since 2015 ...Business Wire (press release)
War for talent shakes up small business in USFox Business
Women business owners connect during Small Business Week ...Glendale Star
MY PG NOW
all 7 news articles »

USA TODAY
Tax reform bonanza: Small businesses use savings to invest, hire
USA TODAY
Small business owners such as Sandeep Thakrar are overhauling their 2018 business plans as a result of the sweeping federal tax cuts, with many saying they'll use their savings to boost investment, hire more workers and dole out raises, a new Bank of ...

Good4Utah
Everything you need to know about National Small Business Week
Good4Utah
4/26/2018 - SALT LAKE CITY, Utah(News4Utah) National Small Business Week is next week, April 29- May 5. Roberta Reichgelt, Local Business and Entrepreneurship Manager with the Department of Economic Development, joined Emily Clark, to talk about the ...
The Really Big List of National Small Business Week 2018 Events, Promotions and DealsSmall Business Trends
SBA Administrator Linda McMahon Honors Top Resource Partners During National Small Business WeekPR Newswire (press release)
National Small Business WeekPinebluffspost

all 5 news articles »

USA TODAY
Small business: Great advice will be easy to get during Small ...
USA TODAY
Be sure and join me for my Facebook Live event in conjunction with the SBDC network to kick off Small Business Week.

and more »

Forbes
Can A Small Business Survive Tragedy?
Forbes
On a warm, sunny day in the mid-1980s, Anne Hed walked into a bike shop in the Twin Cities to find the person that turned out to be her soulmate: barefoot with no shirt on, covered in grease, and his hair dyed magenta. It was Steven Hed; and he was ...

Forbes
Selling A Small Business While Keeping Your Job: A Win-Win Story For This Auto Repair Shop Owner
Forbes
In October of 1980, suburban Chicago resident Eric Nerad decided to leave behind his days of being a journeyman mechanic to start his own venture. He saw the opportunity to improve on how automobile dealers were treating customers, so he and a partner ...

American Banker
Kabbage plan in Orchard deal: Expand offerings to banks, small businesses
American Banker
The online small-business lender Kabbage confirmed Thursday it has agreed to acquire Orchard, a provider of data, technology and analytics to the online lending industry. Kathryn Petralia, president and co-founder of Kabbage, said the acquisition will ...

and more »

Westmoreland survey pinpoints blight, small business assistance
Tribune-Review
Updated 51 minutes ago. Westmoreland County's future should include elimination of downtown blight, enhancement of trails, cultivation of arts and entertainment and more assistance for small businesses. Those were the conclusions of about 40 residents ...

Bloomberg
Barclays Teams With PayPal for Payments, Small-Business Service ...
Bloomberg
Barclays Plc customers will soon be able to use their payment cards and manage their business accounts through PayPal Holdings Inc. U.K. and U.S. clients will soon be able to add their Barclays debit and credit cards to their PayPal digital wallets for ...
Barclays Teams With PayPal for Payments, Small-Business ServiceBloombergQuint

all 6 news articles »

Google News

Small Business Success: Thriving During Change (And Landing On Your Feet!)

Small Business Small Business