Quite often, we see business people filtering new ideas and strategies through the lens of what they already know, ie, their experiences… and often, these very same individuals are the ones who find their progress limited.
Here’s why…
When you filter things through what you already know, you are limiting your ability to test out fresh ideas… you might believe you are open minded but in actual fact you are only open minded when things are consistent with your own beliefs…
For example, a lot of business people love to say
“This doesn’t work in my industry.”
but what they actually mean is
“This has not been done in my industry and I am not willing to test it out because [fill in excuses or “reasons”.]”
How about re-framing it to:
“I KNOW from experience to be successful, I need to learn new things and constantly test out new ideas… therefore, I give myself permission to have fun, make mistakes and to learn as I grow.”
Here’s another example, a lot of times, fresh ideas need to be refined over several iterations before it becomes consistent or workable… it is the same as learning to walk, cycle or a new golf swing… but some business owners somehow expect business to be different, they expect things to work the first time or else they will discard an idea immediately… because their ‘experience’ tell them it won’t work and the first time failure ‘confirmed it’…
The common interpretation of experience is “something that worked in the past” and is actually very limiting… instead, how about re-framing it to:
“Experience shows me nothing works perfectly the first time, I need to be persistent and open-minded to test and refine new ideas to get results.”
One final example, which is my personal favorite… Business owners take some time and practice to learn a new skill or strategy, but when they teach their staff, they expect their staff to execute it perfectly the first time… or else the staff are “stupid” or the new stuff “don’t work”.
How about re-framing it to:
“Experience shows me practice makes perfect. I shall train & support my team until they achieve consistency.”
[Of course, there usually will be 1-2 team members who are not willing to learn new stuff despite you giving them your best, ie, they have the same experience related beliefs, where you might need to take more drastic action…]
So folks, experience can work for you or against you. You can use your experience to dismiss something outright, or you can apply it to make things work for you, the way WISE business owners will, the choice is yours.
Need help re-framing experiences to make them work for you? Register NOW for our FREE Business Optimization Clinic, valued at RM699. We guarantee you will get at least 1-2 ideas you can implement immediately, even if you do not engage our services.Have a profitable week ahead!
The Familybiz Works Team
ps: Only 10 sessions every month for qualified business owners. Claim yours today!