Change is all about habits. Discarding old habits that don’t serve you and establishing new habits that do. You do this by making your best effort to put attention to practicing them everyday. When you do this, overtime they will become second nature. It might surprise you how quickly this can happen.
Prioritize: Whether it be forming new habits in your personal life or in business, it starts with one step at a time. Start with your top priority. What would you like to change first? Focus on that and when you are fairly comfortable and confident with this new habit, look at the next priority you would like to focus on.
Patience: Don’t be so hard on yourself. One step at a time. New behaviors take time to cement. But the more you practice the better you will get. It’s just like anything really. Once you understand this and have some success, any additional habits you’d like to change will come much easier and faster.
“Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.”
– Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of The United States
Transitioning to a new firm can be daunting, especially when you’ve been where you are for a long time. Things are comfortable. You know your way around. You know the people, the culture, the expectations.
Making a move means new people, new culture, new rules! And what about the uncertainty? Is this the right move? Will I fit in? It can be very stressful. Change is hard.
Ask yourself one simple question. ‘What prompted you to consider this move?’ It’s likely your gut telling you it’s time, it’s a better platform to work from, it’s a good move for your career.
Once you’ve made up your mind to make the move, start with a plan. Map out your way forward. Identify your key clients and the approach you will take to bring them with you. Reach out to your new firm, new partners and look for ways to create more cross-serving opportunities. This can be a great move for your clients and the clients of your new firm if you look at it that way.
With the right plan you can walk in the door of your new firm and hit the ground running and never look back!
Are you making rain, in this the rainiest month of the year (for most)?
Do you need a new or revised strategy for the rest of 2018 and into 2019? It’s never to early to plan and 2019 will be here before you know it.
Are you achieving your plans for growth through talent acquisition? How? Where? When? How do you effectively on-board new talent helping them with their transition to your firm and ensuring a higher likelihood of success and retention? Not to mention getting the maximum ROI!
Are your leaders performing? Could they use a little ‘back-to-school’?
Are your clients truly happy? How do you know?
Just some things to think about as we are a little half way through the ‘rainy’ month of the year. The summer break is not that far away and then before you know it, it’s 2019 already. As they say April showers bring May flowers. So what are you doing to ensure the rest of the year is full of RAIN?
So many professionals going out on their own think they have to do it all on their own. Well sure you can. However, why make the same mistakes others before you have? Why waste time and money trying to figure it all out on your own? Why not learn from others, get advice and guidance, and leverage the wisdom of others gained the hard way? Do you want to learn the hard way? It’s very time-consuming and costly.
Working with a number of startups, the best possible scenario is to get help from the very beginning-as early as possible. from initial concept and vision to business planning.
In my experience those who have sought help from the very beginning experience greater results in a shorter period of time. They seek out and employ the expertise of various other professionals to assist them in starting, and growing their practice or business. It only makes sense. When you have a plumbing issue-you call a plumber. When your car is on the fritz, you go to a mechanic. When you are having issues with your computer, you call in an IT specialist.
Just like your clients go to you for your expertise, why don’t you surround yourself with a team of experts in their respective fields, cutting down on your learning curve and helping you succeed faster?
Shotgun approach or strategic approach? That’s easy. Strategic. Don’t do what everyone else does (‘show up and throw up’). Look at building your profile from the client’s perspective first, then your own. Here’s how you can avoid the lacklustre results you get from a self-centred shotgun approach by being strategic about how you build your profile: First, be where your target market is; second, be relevant. How do you do that? Ask your current clients what events they attend and why. Ask them what they read and why. Ask them what content would be of value to them and why. Find out what’s missing. Then contact the associations and publications your target market attends and reads and ask them the same questions. This is a highly effective and strategic way of ensuring you are where your target market is and you’re relevant to them and their needs.
Over time little drops of water accumulate and form a puddle; growing into a stream, flowing into a river and eventually creating a lake, rushing into the ocean. And that’s exactly how growing your practice or firm works. New habits take time, and with repetition create lasting and impactful results. It all starts with that first drop; or in your case, first step.
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