This is a follow-up to the action item at the end of my More Time Through Radical Thinking post.
Action Item: On a quiet morning grab a cup of coffee and a blank sheet of paper. Write a list of ten things you would stop doing “if you could.” It does not matter how impossible it seems to stop doing these things right now, just keep writing until you have all ten. Put the list away. In seven days come back to the list with a fresh cup of coffee and another quiet moment. Trust me, at least one of your previously impossible to get rid of items will already be gone from your life. Now, go find a cup of coffee and a quiet place, what have you got to lose?
One of my ten items was stop making outgoing sales calls. This is pretty radical thinking considering my number one priority over at ColorMetrix is sales. Remember, nothing happens until someone sells something. For almost a month I have not made one outgoing unprompted sales call. Instead I have focused my energy on refinement of my message delivery on both JimRaffel.com and ColorMetrix.com.
Instead of trying to find the needle in the haystack I am becoming a magnet for the needles. I have spoken publicly and written blog posts that clearly state my radical vision for the future of the printing industry. I have used Twitter, Facebook and other social media to keep my message out there on a daily basis. In just the last week I have received several unsolicited emails and phone calls from organizations that want to do business with me.
Two weeks ago I read the following “writing is the doing part of thinking.” The action item above, my to-do lists, and my blog posts are all acts of putting ideas in my head to the test. Writing your thoughts and ideas down takes courage. The courage to see if they still make sense a day, a week, a month, even a year later. Writing your ideas down is also a filter. The good ones will survive the test of time.
I know at least one of my readers made a list of the ten things he’d stop doing if he could (he emailed me), did you? If you did please leave a comment and let me know how it’s turning out for you. If not, grab a cup of coffee and circle back to the beginning of this post.
A year and a half ago, I weighed 60 pounds more, I smoked a pack of cigarettes a day (and I loved every one of them), and I ate whatever I wanted (which was NOT veggies, fruit, and nuts). But chest pains, a trip to the doc, a day+night in a hospital, and two stents later, I decided that God had blessed me with a second chance, with no idea if I’d get a third, so I took it.
People don’t change, unless they really want to. But if they really want to, then change is not only possible, it is life-altering.
A year and a half ago, I weighed 60 pounds more, I smoked a pack of cigarettes a day (and I loved every one of them), and I ate whatever I wanted (which was NOT veggies, fruit, and nuts). But chest pains, a trip to the doc, a day+night in a hospital, and two stents later, I decided that God had blessed me with a second chance, with no idea if I’d get a third, so I took it.
People don’t change, unless they really want to. But if they really want to, then change is not only possible, it is life-altering.