Virtual Marketeers

If you’ve seen the movie Sliding Doors and you understood the concept, then you are likely to understand the concept that I am about to explain.  This movie is about there being two sides to every story and also helps us to understand that things can very easily change… doors open and close all the time.

It is basically to say that if we were to get up 5 minutes late (as an example)… then who knows, that 5 minutes might be the cause of that series of unfortunate events that followed.  It could invariably be the difference between catching or missing the train, not because you were necessarily running late, but because various stumbling blocks were put into your way because of the time that you were passing through.  You missed it by only a second, which then is then likely to have a major effect on the upcoming events for the rest of the day.

If you think about it, this concept can be applied to many parts of our life.  If you ponder a bit on the broader concept surrounding this one, then it will help you to understand what I am going to speak on next.  I would like to discuss today the concept that life is always subject to change.  This applies each and every moment according to the decisions and choices that we make.

In particular I would like to discuss a bit further those things that have impact on our lives, that are subject to change… those things that are either going to catapult us forward, or hold us back in business and also in live:

Those Surrounding Us
By those surrounding us, I am referring to those closest to each of us, and those who have the most impact and influence on our lives.  For you this may be family, friends, colleagues, clients, mentors, or maybe another person in your life.  We hear what they say and see what they do and it continually makes us question things, and therefore shapes us as a person.

Our Emotions
Our emotions… our joys, our struggles, our excitement, our fears… where we are at right now in life.

If we have just pulled through something we are likely to be looking forward and making the appropriate changes so that we can improve on the outcome next time.  On the other hand in the times that we are really struggling with something, then we are less likely to be looking forward and more likely to looking back into the past.

Stability
When you read this heading you probably thought huh, stability?

My thought is that sometimes stability can have a direct effect on what we feel and where we are at right now… on our emotions.  When things are stable in our lives and in business, then we don’t necessarily want it to change – so we might do things to try prevent it from changing, when really what maybe we should be doing is reevaluating our current situation and moving forward into the unknown (hopefully you didn’t cringe to much when I said that).  To put it into perspective, if we were to stay ‘comfortable’ all the time, would we be likely to grow, to become better in what we do and in who we are as a person?

Change
You might be a person that absolutely loves change, on the other hand maybe you absolutely loath it and will do anything to put the breaks on to prevent you from having to move out of your comfort zone… maybe you are somewhere in between.

I think for a good part of my life I have fostered a bit of a love-hate relationship to change.  I love the excitement and momentum that change brings.  At the same time I sometimes might dislike the feeling of not knowing, of something being outside of my control.

We are on a journey, and for most of us what we continually work towards is to achieve balance in all aspects of our lives.  So to achieve more balance in this area, I am working toward developing a bit of a friendship type relationship to change.  I’m sure that you have probably read or heard the following quote time and time again… it is one that really sticks in my mind always:

“Lord grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
–  Saint Francis of Assisi (from QuoteWorld.org)

Some things are out of our control, and will either change or stay the same no matter what we do to try and control them.  Sometimes we are able to guide things in the direction that we want for them to go.  If there are things in your life like this and you feel that there might be a really positive outcome if you do get in there and get your hands dirty, then what is your excuse?

In the same breath I say both don’t worry about the concerns of yesterday or tomorrows, but do remember to do your goal setting and business planning for the future.

Get in there, get your hands dirty and embrace the journey that life has in store for you.

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