Everyone needs a measure of stability and predictability in their lives. It almost seems that we go through a never ending cycle of being confronted by change and the resultant disorder and confusion that comes with it, working like mad to make sense of it and restore some measure of order and predictability and then enjoying a brief respite before the whole thing starts again.

Sounds a little silly, doesn’t it? Yet, just imagine a situation where you knew exactly what was going to happen each and every minute of the day. There were no surprises, no problems to ponder and resolve, no challenges to overcome and nothing new to experience and learn. How would you like that constantly in your life? How would you feel?

BORED

Time would drag on interminably and you would become restless. Just think of the many time we have read of second generation rich kids who are given everything from a very early age and never have to struggle for anything.

How many of them ‘go off the rails’ so to speak. They turn to drink, drugs or even criminality. Why? Because they have no direction. There is nothing to achieve and so have no goals or aspirations. It seems that we humans have a need for direction and focus.

This implies that the current state of affairs is not necessarily ideal and that we must pursue some change in order to grow, develop and evolve.

Here’s a question for you. How do we measure the passage of time? By the amount of change that has occurred. If nothing is happening then time seems to drag. If we are busy doing things then time seems to fly.

Whether we like it or not, it appears that change is an essential ingredient for a full and happy life. In fact, it can be said that change is the only real constant there is in life. I have often said that you cannot master anything you do not understand and you cannot understand anything you are unable to learn.

What is the first step in learning? We must question, we must define and then evaluate the subject. Then we are engaged on the learning philosophy and so gain understanding.

Question 1: What is change?
Answer: Any alteration in time, place or circumstance.

Question 2: What is the best way to analyse change?
Answer: By compartmenting it into the various areas of life. For example:

• Personal
• Family
• Work
• Social
• Society
• World

It can be further compartmentalised into:

• Physical
• Emotional
• Spiritual

Question 3: What is the best way to decide on the impact of change?
Answer:

• Tolerable
• Overwhelming

Question 4: What is the best way to decide on the nature of change?
Answer:

• Positive
• Negative

It seems obvious that, unless you are a hermit and live in a cave on a mountainside you will experience change. That being the case we need to know how to cope with and manage change so that we may benefit and that others may benefit by our actions in response to change. When you stop and think about it, isn’t that the way society and civilisation is supposed to operate?

Let’s go a little further. Everyone needs some sort of focus in their lives. You could call it a goal or purpose; or, more accurately, a goal and a purpose. Now, any goal is a desired state, or circumstance or achievement. That presupposes that you are not “there” yet in terms of reaching that goal. The purpose is the reason why.

Therefore we all must undertake some sort of journey to reach the desired outcome. That then means a change of some sort from our existing circumstances. So, it would be fair to say we all have a journey we undertake as we go through life. It is a necessary function of living.

So, change is an essential part of life. It is through change that we grow and develop. Therefore we could describe our life as:

• We start out
• We experience change
• We learn
• We continue in an altered state towards our destination.

If we perceive our experience as negative we may, if we decide, end up further from where we wish to be than before. That is, we go backwards, we lose confidence and therefore are able to do less. Have you ever given up doing something because you lost confidence? It’s a terrible feeling.

The question is, how do you overcome negative change that threatens to derail your life in some fashion?

Firstly recognise that failure is an event. It is not you, but an experience.

Any experience is an opportunity to learn. How do you learn?

You question.

What questions do you ask?

• What happened?
• What did I want to happen?
• What can I do to accept that what has happened has happened?
• What can I do to change the situation for the better?
• Where do I start?
• Who can I get to help?
• What did I learn from the situation?
• What can I do to make sure I have a positive outcome next time?

Embracing change requires you to adopt a particular set of viewpoints.

• Whilst I may not be able to influence what has happened, I am responsible for my reaction to it.
• If I do not embrace change and do not change and adapt, I will become obsolete.

It has often been said that only the strong survive. In fact, it is those most adaptive to change who persist and win. The dinosaur was amongst the largest and strongest animals on the planet. Where are they now? They couldn’t adapt to climate change and perished. Yet ants have survived since the dawn of time. Why? They adapted.

In a less dramatic way, we must also adapt to whatever changes life throws at us, and continue our journey. If you look at it, we make many journeys in our lives, both personal and professional.

In sales, for example, the methods of selling have evolved and changed over the years. It used to be that a salesperson had to present, present, present and virtually bludgeon the customer into buying.

Not so today. Today we see the emergence of ‘consultative’ or ‘relationship’ selling. It is almost the opposite to present, present, present. Consultative selling recognises that customers are better informed and cannot simply be bullied or bamboozled into buying something. You have to explore what is important to the customer to establish their needs and wants and then try to match our product to those needs and wants.

There is finally a recognition that you cannot make up a person’s mind for them with any permanency and that the way to ongoing success relies on establishing and fostering relationships. A big change from the past sales thinking.

A great example of a sales organisation not adapting to change was a retail chain called Waltons. They had a large team of travelling sales people who would call on homes and present ‘specials’ to the housewives. They would also collect the account payments.

The stores themselves only accounted for about 40% of the revenue. Over the years more and more women went to work and sales decreased due to this social change. Waltons poured more and more time and effort into the travelling sales force and didn’t realise until too late that they had been made redundant by social change that they had not adapted to.

On a personal level you must recognise that your environment is continually changing on every level. Just look at the internet and the phenomenal growth of recent years.

As a sales professional, or in any occupation, you must continually upgrade your skill, knowledge and ability if you want to keep up, must less progress in your life.

You must be prepared to experience change willingly, be prepared to change what you do and continually learn to be successful in life and living. No longer is change simply a sequence of events. It is almost an avalanche as the rate of change increases almost daily.

Be flexible, be willing to learn and experiment. Above all, be willing to experience.

Life is, today, a journey to be experienced, to reset your journey in the light of changed circumstances and to press on to success. Your success will be determined by your willingness to be flexible and determined.

If you look at it, no change is negative. Certainly you will experience losses in life. It is inevitable. But no great achievement has ever been attained without challenges and losses. I don’t subscribe to the word loss.

Whenever life kicks me in the teeth I pick myself up and try to recognise the opportunity to learn that has just presented itself to me. Every experience, positive or negative is an opportunity to learn, to grow and progress. Successful living is about making progress towards your goals.

It is interesting to note that the best way you can achieve your goals is to help someone else achieve theirs. As you give, so shall you receive. That sounds almost like a religious sermon. It isn’t, it’s just an observable fact of life and living.

You expand your sphere of influence to the extent you assist others. You win respect, admiration and you will evolve into a leader.

Embrace change, you may even grow to like it. You will certainly grow and develop as a person as you do.

We are too busy on day to day living to focus on the really important things that might just make the changes we all want and are, in the main, wishes that don’t come true.

Do you want this next year to be different?

It can be.

Plato said that the most important aspect of life was the beginning. In our case it means goal setting.

Oh, I can hear you say, “Boring, too complicated, a waste of time. I’ve set goals in the past and they haven’t come true.” Yes, that has occured with all of us.

I want to share a couple of strategies with you that will help. Bear with me a moment and I will show you a way of distinguishing between wishes and rock solid intentions that WILL happen. It is a philosophic process that many successful people use, although most of them would scoff if you accused them of applying philosophy.

Here we go.

Firstly, give yourself an hour or so of time alone. Have plenty of paper, a pen that works and an open mind. (The last one is pretty tough)

Write down all the good things you want to happen in your life, no matter how fanciful. You should get a couple of pages. If not, write down the most fanciful ideas you can think of that would give you pleasure and delight in your life.

When you have done that, put your pen down and close your eyes. (I’m not kidding) Look at the first desire then, with your eyes closed, visualise yourself having achieved that desire. (Make sure you see a clear picture of the outcome, this is vital)

If you cannot picture the outcome then you are not ready to achieve that particular goal. Cross it off the list. Go through the list and you will eliminate about eighty percent of the goals. These were the wishes.

Look at the remaining goals and jot down next to each the PURPOSE of the goal, the reason why. Those you cannot find a clear purpose for, cross off the list.

With the remainder you must now rank in IMPORTANCE. Mark them 1,2,3, etc. Once you have done that you are now ready to really make some achievable goals.

Now visualize again each goal. The pictures will now be much clearer. Now comes the real essence of success.

Note how each visualisation makes you feel.

Then you must DECIDE.

Base your decision on the intensity of your feeling towards the goal. The more intense the feeling, the greater chance of success.

Now you will have two or three goals, with a clear purpose that make you alive when you think of them.

You now have REAL GOALS.

Take the most important and make a plan of action. It must be SMART.

SPECIFIC

MEASURABLE

ATTAINABLE

RESULTS ORIENTATED

TIME BOUNDED

Then look at the first step on the first plan and START. It doesn’t matter if the first step is tiny. It is the fact of starting that matters. Do the same for each of the remaining goals and you will be on your way.

The rest is up to you. If you have a real goal that is important to you, you simply have to follow the process and it will happen for you. It will happen because of the power you possess. The power of DECISION.

Believe me, if you decide and you persist, you will win. That is not to say it will all be smooth sailing. But each challenge will teach you something and, with wisdom, anything is possible.

Live Well

Ollie Lind

PS, If you want to know more about goals and achievement, go to my goals report and download your free copy.

                                                      Benjamin Franklin

When I saw this quote I got to thinking about all the things we set out to achieve and all the goals that fade and lay withered like discarded flowers.

I can think of many of my personal goals and desires in my life that went that way. How we waste the time that is so precious to us all. Minor frustrations build into insurmountable barriers that cause us to sink back into inertia.

I read somewhere that the average person spends between twenty and thirty hours a week in front of television. If there was that much quality content on I might understand.

Now that’s inertia.

I am currently writing a fifth draft of a novel I have been working on for what seems like forever. Roland, the director of the Writer’s Studio (who I am working under on this project) smiles and says, “The universe is teaching you patience Ollie.” as Iwork my way through another rewrite of a section.

What really frustrates me about Roland is that he is always right. When I do the rewrite it is at a higher level and so we progress. If I am truly honest with myself I must admit I am enjoying the journey immensely.

I will persist. I will devote a great deal of energy and I will finish the book to the standard required for publication. I have even thought about (read dreamed) what I will do after the book is published.

I will immediately start another because I realize that it is the journey that causes you to grow and growth is life.

I love to live.

How about you?

Live well

Ollie