Idea, Communication, and Action

Really big ideas produce really big results.  We often marvel at businesses who seem to be in the right place at the right time and come through with a huge sensation out of nowhere.  "Why didn't I think of that?"  The funny thing is there are a lot of things that we actually do think of but never act on or let go of before we've realized their full potential.

Christopher Columbus had the biggest idea of his day and against popular vote knew in his heart that the Earth was in fact round.  He needed a lot of cash to prove his idea to be true and went to the biggest Venture Capitalist that came to his mind, Queen Isabella.  Can you even imagine the speech he had to give to convince her that against everything she had been taught and believed there was a possibility that the shape of their planet was actually different than always thought?

He did it. We can only imagine the scene and how it played out but the point is that he did it.  Christopher Columbus mustered up the strength, faith, belief, and perseverance to go where no man has gone before.  He had an idea, he communicated it to anyone he could get to listen, and he took action to prove his idea.  It seems simple enough so why is it such a hard premise for most of us to take hold of and put into play?  Maybe it's a little bit of fear from the unknown mixed with some self doubt or maybe its just that we've been told too many times that something is not possible.

Some of my greatest achievements in business came from situations where an idea popped into my head, I picked up the phone to connect with someone, and  just made it happen.  I didn't leave any room for self doubt or questions to flood in and never once let myself believe that it wasn't possible to achieve this new goal I had set.  Looking back over my career I realize that the moment I let something sit too long in the thinking stage before I acted on it - the idea usually became dead in the water and never went anywhere.  The point is  that by nature we are meant to create.  Don't be to attached that your final outcome is exactly what you  envisioned. Creating can get messy and sometimes from our miscalculations or mistakes come the greatest outcomes and achievements. 

The next time an idea pops into your head promise yourself that before you dismiss it you'll share it with a friend and take at least one step in the direction of making it happen.  You never know what it will become.

Remember to Explore

There's a big world out there waiting for you to drop everything and explore.  It's time for you to let go of all your preconceived notions and remember what it is like to be open to new smells, sights, tastes, and ways of thinking.  We've been doing business in our own corner of the world for years without acknowledging that some of the most awe inspiring places exist outside of our borders.  When is the last time you sat in a restaurant and you were the minority, where you hung on every foreign word spoken trying to piece together the conversation? 

A field of yellow daffodils offers the perfect inspiration for a new color scheme for your Spring Line, a spicy serving of fresh fish from Mexico offers a new line of sauces, and the view from Mt. Everest provides you with the courage to launch a new business.  If we forget to leave the place that we feel most comfortable and most at home we risk loosing one of the greatest opportunities for self growth and awareness. If we as individuals become stagnant and closed in our way of thinking and being, then we risk missing out on the possibilities that life has to offer us up each and every day.  Remember to step outside of your comfort zone and purchase a ticket to the place you've always longed to visit.  When you arrive at your new destination try letting yourself go where the wind may take you and not mapping out your entire adventure.   Hop on a bike and fill your back with a baguette and fresh brie.  Drink from the spicket of an old farm that you pass by and stop to ask a stranger for his favorite place to spread a picnic blanket. 

Before you know it you will be engaged in a conversation that will change your perspective on one of your deepest core beliefs, before you know it you will have a new favorite song, and before you know it you will no longer be longing for your favorite brand of ketchup.  You will have opened yourself up to a new way of thinking and that my friend will open you up to new possibilities and a new sense of adventure.  And when you are done exploring and ready to return home, I promise you will be refreshed and renewed.  Your comfortable life and familiar neighborhood will suddenly feel much bigger and more interesting than it did when you left.  You will be looking at all it encompasses with a new set of glasses, one's that are less tinted with your past experience and belief system. Your new set of glasses will be able to see people and places for what they may represent not what they have represented in the past.

Just back from Mexico, I am already trying to plan a trip to Belize for next summer.  Other than that I will wait and see where the wind takes me.

Really? Did I just bite off more than I can chew?

Feeling Overwhelmed?  Did you put yourself out there to the world beyond your comfort zone and now feeling as though you have no clue how to move forward?  No worries mate. It's nothing that a little time and list making can't take care of and produce the best possible results.

When you start a new chapter in life or in your business you can quickly begin feeling overwhelmed.  You are inudated with new ideas, people, places, and programs and it feels as though you will never be able to organize this new world in your mind and make sense of it.  Change naturally produces endorphins and can make even the calmest individual feel as though they now have ADD.  I'm there now with TRG Northeast.  Tyler, my partner was here for three days this week and we filled the time with client, prospect, and social meetings to make the most of his visit.  I even made him come with me to some of my "have to do in life" things just so he could get a clear picture of how my daily schedule flows with the business and being my mom.  I'm sure it was overwhelming to him to have to get ready for a client meeting with a house full of kids, neighbors stopping by, and a teenager that had to be somewhere in ten minutes.  My new business partner made me proud.  Not only did he rise to the occasion at our business meetings he was able to go with the flow with all of my "mommy duties" and unavoidable sidetrips and delays.

One of the things that I learned from working with Tyler this week is no matter where you are and what you are doing take the time to acknowledge those you have met and the possiblities that may exist in the future from working together.  Now with our addictive smartphones we can instanly plug in our new contacts, send them gratitude and thoughts of future dealings before we even hit the interstate.   We used to have to exchange biz cards, jot down some notes on the back of the card, fly home from the tradeshow, sit at our desks Monday morning and create emails or thank you cards to keep our new connections alive.  Modern Technology has simplified the process but you still have to remember to make the effort and to care about the connections you've made stepping out of the comfort zone of your office.

Where am I going with all of this?  Tyler sent me a you tube video that was a parody about biting off more than you can chew and it triggered some of my insecurities that I run into time and time again in business.  When I am out and about in the community or abroad I get an adrenaline rush from meeting new people and experiencing new places and then when I return home I feel overwhelmed by the thought of not being able to keep up with all of my new relationships and opportuniites.  I am a self proclaimed people pleaser and never want to feel as though I let anyone down.  So here I sit writing a daily blog that I haven't touched in almost a week, needing to send out some overdue proposals, having to finish up some press releases and of course wondering if I bit off more than I can chew.  NAH!! Make a damn list, take a deep breath, and know that you are doing the best that you can do.  Stay focused on your list crossing off each line one by one and at the same time stay balanced.  Accomplish a few of your tasks than get up, move away from your computer and do something for yourself that makes you happy.  Do something that screams I am being me.   Okay don't laugh but when I need to become defrazzled I take a shower.

Something about being somewhere where I can just check out for five minutes and have time to myself brings me back to a place of balance AND  I might add I've gotten some of my best ideas in the shower.

If you want - let's do a coffee meeting.

Jen Houghton
TRG Northeast
www.tylerryangroup.com
207.450.8441
Marketing! It's what we do.