Although difficult to admit publicly, mid last year I hit a stagnant patch in my business. I had great success with the clients that I was working with and some minor growth in my business but overall not much was really changing or happening. That stagnant stuck feeling is the reason my clients hire me, so I understand it well as well as how to overcome it. But like so many people, I didn’t initially realize that I was stuck. I hadn’t been looking at my numbers like I should, I hadn’t been investing the level of time that my business required, I hadn’t been pursuing growth opportunities, I was just coasting along. Late last year when I started doing my strategic planning for 2014 I took a hard look at my business and was able to identify quite a few of roadblocks which were keeping me from staying on the steady growth path that I had previously enjoyed. And although I started making some changes, it took the most unlikely event to allow me to REALLY see what the problem was. {It’s always crazy how the most unrelated instances teach us the lessons we need to learn most.}
Before I get into “the incident” {that makes it sound so dramatic, lol} let me give you the backstory. In June 2013, I finally got serious about my weight and overall health. I began changing my eating habits, exercising more, and I gave up Coca-Cola {As of today I’ve gone 268 days without a Coke, YAY!}. In January, I began working virtually with a trainer and as a part of the program I increased my cardio from 3-days to 6-days per week. Although it was tough at first, I LOVED it, and my body loved it too. A few weeks into the program “the incident” occurred. I was stretching my foot and felt something pop. My bones snap crackle and pop quite often {Damn, 30’s will do that to you} so I didn’t think anything of it. It turns out, I actually had a minor stress fracture in my left foot. My podiatrist put me in an Air Cam Walker Fracture Boot for three weeks.
Not wanting to undo the progress I had made on my fitness journey, I continued my 6-days per week gym routine air-boot and all. I had to modify my routines but I was still getting it in. Every day that someone saw me hobbling around the gym I would get compliments on my dedication and perseverance. But the moment that changed my perspective and my business happened as I was walking into the locker room. As I hopped past a woman sitting on a bench she asks “did you just finish working out in that boot?” I let her know that I had, and that although it’s a bit more of a challenge I wasn’t going to let it sideline me. Her response is what slapped me in the face. She stated:
“I haven’t been here in over a week because work has been busy and I’ve chosen to go straight home afterwards. Seeing you in that boot made me realize that although that seemed like a valid reason not to be here, I realize it was just an excuse. If you can work out with a fractured foot to reach your goals, I should be able to suck up having a long rough day to reach mine. Thank you so much.”
And there it hit me; all of the “roadblocks” that I had identified in my business were actually excuses that I was making to not do the things I KNEW needed to be done in order to continue to grow. Things like not launching my video series because I didn’t have proper lighting or a “real” video camera. When in fact, there is plenty of daylight that shines into my home, plenty of empty walls to stand in front of, and my camera takes decent enough video. So really there is no roadblock, only excuses. And in some cases those roadblocks were actually excuses rooted in fears.
She was thanking me, but I really should have been thanking her. Far too often we hinder ourselves with our fears and excuses masked as roadblocks. When I stopped making excuses for why I’m not, and just started doing, I started to see immediate change and growth both personally and professionally.
So what’s holding you back? What roadblocks are you facing and how can you get around them? Let’s chat, leave me a comment below. I love the open dialog
B. Starr’s Advice:
Start by making a list of your priorities. Then make a list of all of the “roadblocks” you face in reaching your goals. Give some serious thought to alternate ways to achieve the same result without whatever is holding you back. The alternate solution may not be as “perfect” as what you’d like but it doesn’t have to be perfect in order to be profitable. Identify how fear plays into those roadblocks. If fear is what’s causing you to make excuses identify what is the worst that can happen. Chances are the worst case scenario isn’t as bad as you think. When you feel yourself making a excuse, pause and ask yourself “does this align with my priorities?” if the answer is yes then make an immediate decision on what the next step should be in order to keep you moving forward. And then, take that step.