2013 Success Strategy: Change Your Mind

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We’re all in the midst of creating business strategies and plans for our 2013 business. It’s our chance to take a fresh perspective on our business value and our markets – if we step outside of what’s known and comfortable.

As you wade knee deep into your strategic planning and put your knowns on the table (or whiteboard), here’s a question to ask.

Are your assumptions based on what you know from yesterday, or on your market reality, right now?

That sounds like a simple question for any experienced business person who is focused on their customer needs. Yet are we really focused on our best market opportunities, or are we focused on those best customers (who drink our Koolaid) who may or may not be our best opportunity for growth in the future?

Learning to change our mind, to think differently about our business value, our best opportunities for growth and how we engage with our buyers is critical to power 2013 success.

Why? Because the negative news, the down economy, the fear that permeates our world create limitations in our thinking. We get stuck in the way we’ve always done it that’s known and comfortable.

But what if 2013 was the year everything changed again and your markets boomed? What if that big opportunity dropped in your lap and you didn’t have the right value or resources in place to take advantage of that opportunity?

Many believe that 2012 was a tough year. Much of that belief was programmed by the media shouting all the negatives and fearful events it could find. The reality is that 2012 also had significant successes. For many businesses. We just don’t hear about those because success doesn’t sell newspapers or media.

Success is all around us, if we choose to see it. I speak to businesses every day and hear stories of profitable new markets, new approaches that drove significant bottom line success and corporate strategy shifts that led to major revenue increases.

Successful business leaders share one key behavior.

They know how to change their minds to think differently. They question the limitations of the past, they seek new opportunities in the present and they constantly shift their perspectives to stay in sync with their dynamic markets. They constantly ask “Why?” or “Why not?” depending on their circumstances. The push the envelope of the status quo, forget the past and break out into the ways of thinking and doing.

They adapt to take advantage of the opportunities inherent in change.

My question for you is, are you focused on the excitement of a new opportunity that comes with the new year? Or are you focused on defending and protecting against the threats to your business based on the past?

Every one of us has the choice to Adapt for Advantage.

  • We can choose to see today’s economy as a continuation of the same challenges and problems from 2012. Or we can choose to see 2013 as a year filled with changes that bring new opportunity.
  • We can choose to continue to do things the way we’ve always done them, and wonder why it’s not working. Or we can shift our perspectives, see our business through fresh eyes – and find new ways of thinking and doing.
  • We can choose to hang on to what’s comfortable – even if it is negative. Or we can step up to challenge our comfort zone with new ideas, critical perspectives and brave new approaches.

What do you choose for 2013?

I’m choosing to Change my Mind – every chance I get!

Republished with author's permission from original post.

Rebel Brown
Rebel Brown consistently challenges the status quo to deliver optimum solutions and high velocity growth for her clients. She combines the strategic expertise and tactical savvy of a global Corporate Strategy, Launch and Turnaround Expert, along with the leadership and motivational skills needed to get the job done.

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