If You Do What You’ve Always Done…
…you’ll get what you’ve always gotten. Words to this effect have been ascribed to many great people – so many in fact that I’m not sure who gets credit. I think it was Albert Einstein who first said that “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” And this post’s title is merely a spin-off of that. The reason I’ve chosen to write about this is that it’s Friday, and I feel like shaking things up a bit.
So let me ask you…what goal are you headed towards? What is it that you’re working for, and how long have you been working for it? Is it here yet? Can you feel it getting closer? Does it feel like you’re on the right path? If you’re answer to the last three question is “NO”, then I’ve gotta ask, what are you willing to do differently? This can be a tricky road to navigate. On the one hand, you don’t necessarily want to jump ship altogether. All too often, people give up on their objective when it’s just within reach. That’s not what I’m suggesting you do. Instead, what I am inviting you to entertain is the idea that while you continue to aim for your goal, you do so by executing a somewhat different strategy.
Let me give you an example from my own life (talk about taking a risk here!). Back in March, I excitedly launched my new podcast series Your Life, Your Way, Starting Today with a very clear purpose of sharing tips, tools and strategies all designed to support professional women in shifting their lives from the place of chaos to calm. I had a very clear objective and a vision of having hundreds of subscribers which would not only provide me with a passive income source, but would begin to infuse the world with a sense of ease. This feels really important to me. It’s what my work is all about. So, I created a plan of action and began to implement it. Long story short, sign-ups have been less than anticipated. So yesterday, I had a brainstorming session with my podcast producer who had taken the time to do a usability study. The results showed that while people were generally impressed and appreciative of the content, the quality of recording was such that they were unwilling to pay for it. Huh. That was my initial response. And I felt an “inner saboteur” wanting me to stop production and distribution altogether. But a stronger voice asked, “what can you do differently Gail, if you want a different result? What’s the opportunity here?”
It’s a great combo of questions to ask, don’t you think? When you feel ready to throw in the towel altogether, if you take a minute to ponder the opportunities, I guarantee something will open up. In my case, what opened up was — so let’s go back to the original plan (audio recording only), up the ante on the quality piece (throw in some branding music) and incorporate downloadable worksheets for every segment. If I was tingling with excitement about my podcast before I gotta tell you, I’ve got GOOSEBUMPS now! My goal is still there. I’m still heading towards it. And I’m just tweaking my strategy a bit. I’ll let you know how it turns out 
In the meantime, I invite you on this glorious Friday to ask yourself what needs to be tweaked in your game plan? If there’s something you’re striving for, what will you do differently in order to bring it into your reality? Bottom-line: if the results you’re getting aren’t the results you want, a slight modification to the game plan may be all that’s needed to make things flow.
Great post, Gail! Congratulations on your insight AND thank you for triggering my thought process about doing something different!
Thanks for the kudos Julie! And you’re welcome for triggering your own thought process – it’s always a part of my intention to have people stretch the way in which they think and the thought patterns they’re holding. It’s all about stretching the beliefs and ideas we hold as “true” and seeing what other “truths” are available to us.
Happy Mother’s day — in the spirit of women celebrating womanhood in a peaceful spirit (an idea first shared with me by a client – I love my clients!). Blessings!