5 Ways To Adjust Course
OK, raise your hand if you feel like you’re treading water and getting nowhere. Like you’re stuck in a swirling cycle that has you looking for a way out, a way up, a way not to give up.
If you’re a beach goer you’ve seen the signs – Beware of Riptides. The warnings tell you to remain calm and swim to the side – perpendicular to the shore – and not to attempt swimming directly toward shore. This advice goes against our natural instincts and in itself can cause panic. The riptide is trying to pull you out. So, if you head to shore and fight it you are only making it more difficult. If you swim to the side, making a course change, you can swim out of the current to where it’s now safe to swim toward shore.
These warning signs should be posted on our businesses. You get stuck in a cycle of unproductive, ineffective processes and spin your wheels, feel exhausted and unhappy and want to give up. But giving up is the last thing you should do when caught in a riptide.
Start swimming to the side.
You still have the same destination in mind – the shore, or the vision and mission of your business. You’re simply taking a slightly different course to get there.
5 Ways To Adjust Course:
- Take some time away.
When you’re stuck in a riptide your instinct is to swim harder, paddle faster and push toward the shore. What happens though is you panic, you wear yourself out and the resistance you create gives you less strength to actually do the work you need to do to survive.
Give yourself a break. Rest. Do something you love to do and get your mind off of your business for a while. Gain some new perspective.
- Assess what’s going well.
This is a great time to look at what parts of your business are working. Focus on what’s going well. What are you enjoying right now? What feels effortless or easy?
I know there are parts of business that you are enjoying and by focusing there for a bit you will start to see patterns emerge. Like swimming perpendicular to a riptide, those things feel much easier. When you do more of that, you make faster progress. Even if that progress is in small increments.
- Ask for help.
No doubt, if you’re caught in a riptide you will be calling to shore for help. So, why not ask for help in your business?
Start simple, ask a trusted friend, colleague or mentor to listen as you share the challenges you’re facing. Then ask them questions.
Here are 2 questions you can start with:
Where do you see opportunity in my business right now?
If you were my ideal client, what would you want from me right now?
- Get back to basics
Think back to when you first started your business. Is there a core service or offer that you came to market with? Something you might have gotten away from or has gotten lost along the way?
Maybe there is a marketing practice that you stopped doing, because you got busy.
It’s easy to lose sight of the basics and what was working when we started. It’s fun to try new things, expand and explore. However, in times like this, when you’re stuck in a riptide, it’s best to return to what you know works – swimming sideways out of the current and back to the calm water.
So, pick one thing that worked in the past, maybe it’s been working all along, and put your focus there.
Oh, and on a personal note – blogging. I pretty much quit blogging, and I realized recently that I really miss it. Writing a blog is my opportunity to talk to you. And I enjoy that. Just so you know 🙂
- Make a Plan
Let’s face it, those riptide warning signs are on the beach for a reason, to make us aware so we are prepared in the event that we do encounter one.
If your business is caught in a riptide right now, and you are not prepared, this is your warning sign.
If you don’t have a strategic plan, it’s not too late. Before you freak out, a strategic plan does not need to be a big cumbersome process. It can be as simple as one sheet. The level of detail in your plan will depend on you, your business and the purpose for the plan. For this purpose, it can be pretty simple.
Here are basic elements of a plan to get you started:
Why are you in this business?
Who is your ideal client/customer?
What do you offer to your customers?
What benefits do your customers get from your business?
How do you deliver your product or service?
Where does your customer find you?
Road Map – draw a picture of what your business looks like – today, 6 months from now, 1 year from now. That’s it, no more. Just focus on the next year for right now.
The purpose of this road map and this plan is to get you excited again. To see why you started this business in the first place, who you serve, how you make their lives better and to reignite your vision for the future. You’ll see, it doesn’t matter that you swam off course a bit, because in the end you still are heading for the beautiful sandy shore.
Start your plan with a clear vision
I have a special gift for you. It’s a guided visualization that will help you see clearly what you want your life and business to look like. You’ll love this sacred time to spend visualizing the future. Do it before you start working on your plan and it will all feel like a breeze.
You can download it for free right here. And after you do – Please share some of what you experienced and what you’re most excited about.
