How to Prepare for Positive Incredible Change in 2013

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In this article I'm going to discuss why it's so very important to embrace change in every aspect (the good, the bad, the ugly). There is a popular song titled: "Everything Must Change", which has been recorded by a number of artists. One of the recurring lyrics is: "Everything must change, nothing remains the same". Boy, ain’t that the truth!

Often times we hear individuals say that they wish they could return to "The good old days". My question is would they be willing to give up their cell phones, Internet access and all of the advances in science and medicine that have made their life more productive and healthy?  Me thinks not!

Change is a part of life of which we can always be certain. We’re going to have to embrace it if we’re ever going to be able to differentiate change, which is beneficial to us from that which is harmful. We can receive help in making this differentiation by learning to connect to our changeless spiritual nature. Let me see if I can explain.

In order for us to determine how change can potentially affect us, we have to acknowledge its existence and be in a position to evaluate it. We shouldn't bury our heads in the sand, hoping that it will pass us by and leave us unscathed.  We don’t even have to like it. The key is to have a solid set of values to which we can compare the effects of this proposed change.

This solid set of values is directly related to our relationship with our spiritual nature. If you remember in an earlier article I stated that the purpose of our spiritual nature is to provide us directions towards our highest goals and ultimate life's purpose. This part of us is changeless. The better we’re able to communicate with our spiritual nature, the more distinct we’ll be able to hear its voice and determine our direction.

There’s a really unique feature about preparing for the potential impact of change. It’s that we are in charge of determining how we respond to this change, or whether we respond to it at all. It's an example of applying the Law of Cause and Effect, which simply states: We choose how we experience life.

We can either allow change to control us so much so that we feel as if we're poor pitiful creatures to whom life shows no mercy. Or, we can respond to this change from a vantage point of power, dominion and fearlessness.    

When we choose to take charge of how we respond to change, we become victors and not victims of life. Dr. Steve Maroboli says:

 “Incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you do have power over instead of craving control over what you don't.”

Let’s get ready for a 2013 of incredible change. I hope you've enjoyed this post and until next time here's hoping that you live today and every day passionately and with purpose. Thank you and God bless!

Are We Putting the Cart Before the Horse?

I may not be the first to say this but I am concerned with our country’s obsession with instant gratification. It seems that we are constantly bombarded in the media by the newest, the prettiest and the biggest of anything out there and the need to have it now. Understand that I do not blame the media because it serves a purpose in bringing us information. What concerns me is it seems that we are becoming focused more on profits and less on service. I think this is putting the cart before the horse. Let me give you an example.

When I first opened up my personal computer service business in the early 1980s, I was focused on how to troubleshoot and repair this new phenomenon called the IBM personal computer. I found out that it was extremely difficult for the owner of an IBM personal computer to have it repaired after a malfunction. IBM stipulated that its customers had to remove any non-IBM components prior to returning the unit to a regional service center for repair.

There were a number of problems with this approach. The first problem was caused by removing the non-IBM component. Many times these components (such as memory cards and communications ports) were the source of the problem. An additional problem was also caused by the fact that the service center was often times located a number of miles away from the customer’s location. This fact in and of itself caused the customer to be without their computer for weeks.

I thought to myself what if someone started a business that would go to the clients home or place of business in order to troubleshoot and repair the customer’s computer regardless of any third-party equipment? This passion overwhelmed me and within six months I had resigned my position with IBM and began the lonely life of an entrepreneur. However, I was an entrepreneur with a passion. My passion was to provide exemplary customer service. I found that my profits rose as I focused on ways to improve service.

I successfully followed that formula for over 20 years. During one of those years my company was recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of the 500 fastest growing privately held corporations in America. The point I am making is that as leaders we have to be able to identify and articulate those values that we hold sacred. I do not advocate that we go back to the old way of doing things. That would be like saying we should throw away the Internet and never use the media.

My point is that we should recognize they are tools that we can use to implement our values throughout our organization while we focus on creating those programs that provide lasting value to our clients as well as profit to our organizations. Let’s put the horse back in front of the cart.