I’d say, without a doubt, that one of my biggest frustrations in life is this: Seeing people who are struggling, offering them a simple solution, and sitting back and watching them do absolutely nothing with it!
Could this be you? Has it ever been?
I’ll tell you right now that it certainly has me at times. I’m not ashamed to admit it. I’m human!
Fact: As human beings, we often have a hard time taking action on certain things that affect our status quo.
Why?
Because taking action brings about change…and the subconscious mind (I call it Elmo) hates change.
Elmo perceives change as a threat to us and he wants to protect us from it. Therefore, he will trick you, deceive you, manipulate you, even stab you in the back… whatever he has to do… to keep you from changing.
Here’s a prime example of my frustration: Awhile back I was in a local hardware store. The owner was complaining that business was slow. He mostly blamed it on the economy and Home Depot.
He whined, “People drive right past my store to go to Home Depot when they could buy it cheaper here.”
I said, “Do you mean to tell me you’re cheaper than Home Depot?”
He answered, “We sure are …on lots of items.”
I asked, “Do all of the people driving by your store know that?”
He said, “If they would just stop and check our prices they would.”
(Once again, here’s an example of a business owner who somehow expects customers to just show up as if by magic.)
I said, “Listen…why don’t you put up a sign out front…or on your vehicle (he already had a sign on his vehicle with the name of his business on it)… or in your store window…that reads something like this:”
We Beat Home Depot’s Prices! Or Pay Less Here Than Home Depot!
He said, “Well, I guess I ought to do that. It would probably help.”
I said, “Do Ya Think?”
And…you guessed it. That was 6 months ago. He has done nothing as of yet.
My point is this: (Einstein said it best) “Nothing happens until something moves.” Don’t whine and complain about the way things are. Instead, get off your butt, roll up your sleeves and go do something about it.
Waiting for change, hoping for change and praying for change is not a good business strategy. Going out and creating change is!
Now…get moving and go do what YOU need to do.
And thanks for reading this letter,
Hal