Changing It Up

By Chrissie VanWormer

Sometimes we get complacent. You know what I mean. You’ve got a good business, good clients, good cash flow and all is well with the world. That was my 2011. I was content for the first time in a while and had a bit of time to have some fun. I wasn’t thrilled with parts of what I was doing but I was finally making some decent money. Then…BAM…2012 came in like a lion. Let me just back up and say that I had set my intention for 2012 to really change it up. I put it out to the universe that I wanted to grow personally, grow my business, and finally find my life’s purpose. But I forgot to ask it the change would come with grace and ease. That was my mistake!

Shortly after the beginning of the year, we were notified that a very large account was being pulled back and away in another direction. My heart sank. My stomach sank. I felt a little sick, a slight bit depressed and maybe a tad bit angry if I will let myself admit that. We worked hard for that client and went above and beyond at all times. The change had nothing to do with what we did or didn’t do. It just happened. Life happened.

I needed time to think.

About two days later, as I sat eating a lunch time salad, I had an epiphany. The feeling came in like a lightning bolt and I was suddenly 100% aware that the change was nothing but good. Good for me, good for our business, maybe even good for the world. Well, I probably shouldn’t go that far but I’ll tell you one thing…the whole experience made me re-think and re-direct my thought processes. I had been buried in minutia for two years which didn’t make me happy but the money was good so I kept at it. We had been handed the opportunity to change it up.

The excellent part of all of this is that we are really being forced to think out of the box relative to finding new clients and a new direction. We’re even re-branding our business and becoming more of who we want to be as a business and individuals. A very wise friend of mine regularly says, “Whoa, wait a minute, let’s back up and look at that again.” I’ve never been keen on looking backward but I have to admit, hindsight really is 20/20. We’re looking at where we’ve been, looking at where we want to go and finding the path to get there. Is it scary? Darn right it is but it’s exhilarating. And anything that’s new and unfamiliar is a bit scary but growth doesn’t come from stagnation. Growth comes from shaking it up, moving out of the familiar, and changing it up.