Navigating change can be a controversial topic because people are often threatened by it. Very few really like change. It’s not too soon to begin looking forward to next year. Every year brings about change and 2018 will be no different.  However, when you’re faced with transitions, go back to basics and make sure your fundamentals are sound. Solid practices can give you a competitive edge.

Seven tips for navigating change.

     1. Believe in yourself.

This isn’t psychobabble: it’s important to value yourself and have confidence in your abilities. Looking ahead to the new year can be intimidating. One basic way to boost your confidence and self-esteem is to complete what you start. It’s amazing to me how many great starters will leap off the blocks, get off to a strong lead, and then hit a wall. When this happens, remember that walls are there for a reason – to make you stronger. You can expect to encounter more obstacles when navigating change, but persist until you overcome the hurdles. Quit quitting. Be a finisher of every task. No self-help book will elevate your belief in yourself like completing tasks.

     2. Amaze your clients.

Les Brown says, “It’s not enough to satisfy your clients: you must amaze them!” Go the extra mile and do whatever it takes to wow them. If your time with someone is supposed to end at four pm, go a little longer. Always be early, stay late, and over-deliver. Give more than is expected. During times when you’re navigating change, never lower your standards of excellent customer service.

     3. Accept responsibility.

In our age, when it’s common to blame others and shun accountability, this is a rare and powerful mindset. There are two things you can do about your circumstances: accept them or change them. Those who take responsibility will become empowered to change them more easily. If you don’t like the hand you’ve been dealt, get a new hand. Don’t be afraid to reinvent yourself: this is a very good strategy. However, make sure that where you’re heading is better than what you’re leaving. Don’t leave your situation because what you’re doing is hard: leave because what you’re going to is better. Accepting responsibility to improve your current situation will make navigating change a more viable option.

     4. Tune out negative voices.   

Enough is enough! Let’s stop the negative voices once and for all. We all have two sets of voices influencing us. The first set is the one in our head that says we’ll fail. When you make those phone calls, they’re the ones telling you that everyone is going to say no. Ignore them. The other set is the external voices – those people surrounding you who are naysayers. Don’t let these people get on your ride, realizing that if they’re not with you, they’re against you. Instead, find people who will encourage you, validate you, and fuel your tank. People can be like crabs in a pot. If you put one crab in a pot, it can climb out. If you put two or more crabs in a pot, they can’t get out because they continually pull each other down. There are people in your life who are pulling you down. I’m not telling you to get rid of them, but I did. I’m on a mission, fighting for my family. I can’t afford to have people dragging me down. My family is more important than fitting in. It’s like there are 20 or 30 anchors attached to our rowboat, slowing us down. We have to decide which anchors to cut so we can get the boat moving forward. If the voices in our heads and around us aren’t helping us move forward, we have to change the music. Navigating change in the voices we listen to is vital to our forward progress.

     5. Think. 

Deliberately make time for thinking of better ways to do things. This is one of the biggest adjustments that I’ve had to make. I used to be always going at mach 10 with my hair on fire. Then I read Napoleon Hill’s book Think and Grow Rich, which showed me that I needed to take time every morning to think. Now, I get on my stationary bike at 3:30 am, but I’m not thinking yet: I’m growing by listening to giants in our industry. Then I have my quiet time, reading my Bible. And then I think, getting very quiet. I draw out our business plan. I look for better ways of doing things. It’s amazing how much faster we’re going now that I take time to think. Navigating change of this magnitude was a major paradigm shift for me, but I did it. However, I never take time to think during productive business hours. Once the bell rings that potential clients are open for business, that’s time to act! Think during quiet time before or after business hours. Are you thinking and growing rich? Or not thinking and growing poor?

     6. Be productive, not busy.

Most of us are very busy. But are you productive? Years ago, I started out in business with a Franklin Covey planner. Dawn and I went away for a weekend and listened to the tapes and learned how to use it. Its inventor is masterful in teaching you to list your things to do. After a while, though, I realized that I rarely got past seven items. So I learned to list the seven things that are the highest revenue-producing actions of our business, and they’re the ones I do first. I want to be productive, not busy. For example, LinkedIn now generates 31{db95e0fd77ae6d141d4535e2bf7b464d98e4151322120f553d7786be9a7303be} of our leads, so that is productive time for us. Dawn is one of the top ten women to follow on LinkedIn and has not only mastered the art of using it to generate leads, but she’s also taught me how to do it. As I look over our twelve methods for lead generation, I have choices to make. Should I go to that networking event? Or should I be on LinkedIn? Sometimes two hours on LinkedIn yields more business than a networking event that doesn’t have our target market in it. In every business model, there are certain things that produce results and other things that don’t. If you’re not sure which things you should be doing, you could make a list of everything you do. Then label each item with a “P” for the productive tasks – those that produce results – and a “B” by the busy tasks. Focus more of your time on the productive actions that will help you reach your end goals.

     7. Set elite standards.

Dawn and I laugh about how we must still think we’re in our teens because we never slow down or back off or say we’ve arrived. We want to get better. We’re looking at new markets and more clients and greater exposure. For us to get to the elite level of where we want to go, we have to set our standards higher. This can include spending time with people who are more successful than us. When I call up Andy Andrews and we talk as peers, I know I’m not the smartest, richest, most successful guy on that phone. So when I hang up, I think, “I’ve got to take it to a higher level.” We can all set higher standards, no matter what our work is. Whether you’re an employee, a business owner, or an entrepreneur, you should be shooting for that elite level. We need to be the best we can be, to stand out because of our excellence. Most people that I meet work for money, not for significance. They want to generate income to get by, doing just enough to satisfy the bill collectors. Dollars may be the measuring stick in assessing what you do, but I recommend they not be the reason why you do it. It’s better to find something you’re passionate about, that you would do for nothing.

If you’re faced with a time of navigating change, be encouraged: the change could be exactly what you need. Remember to always believe in yourself, amaze your clients, accept responsibility, tune out negative voices, think, be productive, and set elite standards. These practices will guide you through the change and into a successful future!