Is it really that easy?

Just a few short months ago, the list of daily worries were not very long. There was the usual day to day grind of working or running a business, school, bills, the predictable mayhem. Having a meeting with your co-workers or collaborators meant getting together in a room with stale refreshments (sometimes) and watching the clock in hopes that the moderator would soon finish their rant about who knows what. Getting together with the team was just par for the course in the grand scheme of things. In hindsight, that all seems like easy street. Decisions were astronomically easier than they are now.

Taking a look in the mirror, rearview, or otherwise, I have to examine the mindset that unprecedented change has left us all in. In the midst of unwelcomed change, I specifically wonder, how do I operate my business, adjust to change in operations, help other businesses that need help with adaptation, and most importantly, achieve the goals that I set for my business in the first quarter of the fiscal year? How do businesses (current and future) need to operate in this climate and stay solvent and motivated? I say, keep it simple and make it easy.

What prompted you to start a business? What stirred your soul to say, "there is a need that I can meet?" What idea kept you up at night and grabbed your thoughts throughout the day no matter how hard you tried to focus on something else? I would venture to believe that those "things" are still there. Still chugging along waiting for you to take hold and make them become a reality. This thought process applies to new business, old business, personal business, life...whatever. Keeping it simple at the core of your thought process can really assist in helping you get on track and stay on track. One foot in front of the other, one day at a time.

That leads me back to my original question. Is it really that easy? I say yes, it is-in theory. Human nature causes us to be anxious about everything. We want to know as much as we can, as soon as we can, and get as far ahead of the curve as humanly possible. That's how you get ahead, right? Yes and no. We can only control what we can control. Let's forecast this for a minute. The practice of forecasting in business is to look at and analyze past trends. We then use that data as a predictor of future behavior. This method is helpful but not foolproof. The one thing forecasting is good for is that you can take inventory of what you've done in past difficulties and see where you missed the mark, how you got back on track, and how you moved forward. Let's face it. There's no substitute for experience-good or bad.

When I talk about business or even life for that matter, I see an EKG strip. I see ups and downs, highs and lows, and sometimes there's a flatline. Unfortunately, there are some flatline moments that you can't recover from. The season for whatever you were doing may have changed, the sign of the times may have affected your goals, human error, etc. Even in failure, there's an opportunity to start over, redirect, adjust. In this time/season of change, where norms are somewhat of memory, remember to keep it simple. Put one foot in front of the other and take advantage of the opportunities that are before you. Trust the journey and remember there is always something to learn along the way.