Have you ever seen one of those robots that will bump into a corner, turn slightly and try again… bump into the same wall, turn slightly… bump into it again, turn slightly, etc.? It keeps going until eventually it is heading OUT of the corner and in a new (more open) direction.
When I see businesses who are feeling “hammered” and “forced into a corner” by 2009, I think of this robot. I wonder… WHY are they not changing directions? Trying something new? Trying again?? And again? First, fear keeps them stuck in a corner.. fear of risking (and losing) more… fear of going in the WRONG direction. So, they remain stuck. Do they like the corner? NO. Are they HOPING to get out? You bet. Yet, paralyzed by the feelings of defeat and fear, they remain INactive. Throwing their hands up, they will say, “What’d ya gonna do??” So, they either continue doing the very things that led them into the corner, or they do nothing.
Tidewater Women magazine said I “embodied the entrepreneurial spirit”…. As an entreprenuer, this defeat in my fellow “treps” breaks my heart. Because when I look at them, I see such potential…. They are pregnant with it….. and are often just ONE BOLD move away from giving birth to profit.
In the Bible, the Israelites were leaving slavery in Egypt. They left singing, dancing and praising the Lord for their deliverance… with the hope of a promised future. Much the way many of us ventured into business ourselves, right? But, in the case of the Israelites, the Promised Land took much longer to reach then they anticipated…. the journey was harder than they expected… the obstacles were more frequent and more challenging than they expected. Can you relate? Did you know that only ONE person per million Israelites made it INTO the Promised Land?
If you feel like your chances of ending up in your own Promised Land are about one in a million, let me share with you a Biblical Truth to accelerate your entrepreneurial travels:
1) CHOOSE… Joshua told the Israelites to CHOOSE this day whom they would serve…. Today, I am asking you – if you are NOT okay with the PROFIT your business is producing – to CHOOSE to turn it around. Make a decision to do something different. Even a robot can find its way out of a corner. So can you. CHOOSE. DECIDE you will succeed. DECIDE to do something different. CHOOSE today.
2) COMMIT…. Joshua asked the Israelites to abandon all other “gods” and “idols” and COMMIT to the Lord. I am asking you to abandon Plan B’s…. and COMMIT whole-heartedly… with laser-focus… and one-track thinking to your own business success.
Here’s to being one in a million!! =)
