That is me! That is exactly how I am behaving in my business!

You know you need to do something different in your business. One aspect, or more, in your current operation is just not working out. It might even be a combination of multiple items. Here are a few stories which are meant to have you think, and you might even come to the conclusion, “That’s me. That is exactly how I am behaving in my business!”

First story – Do you know how to ride a bicycle? Have you ever learned to ride a bicycle? A few items must be pointed out here. One is you never forget how to ride a bicycle, once you know how to ride a bicycle. You probably saw others riding a bicycle before you learned to ride a bicycle yourself. You might have fallen off the bicycle once, twice, three times or more before you rode the bicycle yourself without falling. Now that you are older, you do not own a bicycle, but you still know how to ride a bicycle. You are able to teach someone else how to ride a bicycle.

Second story – You want to lose some weight. Maybe you know it is ten to fifteen pounds you want to lose and that is your goal. You decided Sunday night that this week was the week you were going to start watching your diet and begin to lose that weight. Monday was a bad day. There was news which upset you all over the internet and TV. You had a few confrontations with prospects and one with a former client. When these happened, you ended up skipping lunch and stopped to have two slices of pizza and a large soda. When you arrive home you eat cold leftover Chinese food, a bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos, and a pint of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. You say to yourself as you go to bed, “I will start my diet tomorrow.”

Third story – The idea of running a 10K or a Marathon has always been one of your dreams. You have not really worked out for years, maybe a decade. The first thing you do is go to the sporting goods store, like Dicks’ Sporting Goods, and purchase some running shoes and some workout clothes for running. The next day you go out for a run. It is so enjoyable. You see groups of people running together. Everyone has their own pace and speed. The day after that you cannot move as you are sore all over your body. You are barely able to move one leg in front of the other. You decide to subscribe to a few running magazines. Each time one of these running magazines arrives, you lay down on the couch and read it from cover to cover. You have not gone out to run again since that first day.

Each of these stories should have you thinking about yourself or someone you know. Just to be absolutely certain we are all on track, here are a few observations. These are not intended to be statements of the defining moment or lesson from the story. It is being given as an additional thought for you to consider.

In the first story about the bicycle, we all get this one don’t we? Someone showed you how to ride a bicycle, you saw others riding bicycles, you may have fallen down and you always got back up. You never forget how to ride a bicycle. How does this translate to your business and how you work?

In the second story about losing weight, what if the only food available at home was healthy food to eat? What if the starting weight was written down and placed in a location easy to see on the refrigerator door with empty boxes for a weekly weigh in? What if each meal and snack was planned throughout the entire day the day before? How does this example translate into ways you approach your business and your work?

In the third story about the interest in running, what if a running plan was set up for the month? Dates and distances were placed in the plan with scheduled rest days and space for the time to be entered.

There are a number of other solutions for these specific stories. The point is if you said, “That is me! That is exactly how I am behaving in my business!” What are you going to do about it?

Mitch Tublin is an advanced certified personal and executive coach who resides in Stamford, CT.