Being Brave and Actually Making a Change
It is one thing to know a change needs to be made, and another to be brave and actually start making the change. The first is an uneasy place to live, but there is a kind of comfort in it. Strangely, the knowing is enough and becomes an excuse – “I know it’s not right, but I’m not ready/too busy/not the right time to do anything about it.” Because taking action and making the change is a fearful place; it risks failure, risks you not knowing what you’re doing, and risks discomfort. Far easier to sit in the knowledge of “something’s not right” than to head out on the quest to rectify it.
That’s why making changes in your business is a brave thing to do. Particularly if like me, the changes you want to make are for your happiness and sanity – it’s hard to take something that is making money and providing value to others and say, “I can’t do it like this anymore.”
I like the scheming. In my last post, I talked about figuring out the more significant problem and using it to drive what I did next, and this, for me, this is the fun bit. The working backwards from the result shows what people will need to get there, planning exercises, writing out Google doc after Google doc of ideas and sales copy, and project plans. I have always preferred the scheming and planning to the actual doing.
Of course, this is an integral part of making a change. To go from an abstract problem into a grounded solution, from theory to reality. It is not without its struggles, like a particular sticking point, that you need to rework to make sense, falling into the trap of over-complication that you need to crawl your way out from. But none of it is really hard, really a risk. Because this planning stage lives ‘backstage’; it’s not something that we’re yet thinking of putting out there. It’s safe in our files and daydreams and perhaps a few conversations with trusted friends, but it’s in a bubble where it doesn’t really exist, so it can’t hurt or be hurt.
This is the trouble with planning – it makes you feel like you’re making progress when in reality, you’re treading water. It is possible to be busy and productive in the planning stages, but this can quickly turn into procrastination and a never-ending plan. It’s easy to tell yourself, “it’s not ready. I just need a bit more time”. But a change doesn’t happen until it’s made.
There is both a physical and psychological element to making change, and of course, the two are intertwined. Making that concrete first step – creating the first worksheet, recording the first video, putting the booking link on your website – takes a great psychological effort. For me, I began to feel resistance as I was finishing off my project plan. I’d been committed and inspired working on the concept of my new offering, but when my to-do list started to say “plan the first exercises,” I became distracted and continually put it off. Once the exercises were planned and then I had to start making them, again, I was distracted and kept putting them off.
I think there are many reasons. There is an element that creating the materials that people will use to make changes takes a very different kind of mindset and brainpower than conceptualising an offering. With hindsight, I hadn’t done anything to prepare myself for that new mindset – so it just felt hard. But of course, it was because I knew it was a sign that way cosy planning cocoon was coming to an end and that soon I’d have to take the ultimate risk and actually put it on sale.
As soon as you start making the actual thing, writing the course, or crafting the product, you have to start imagining it in the real world in the hands of your customer. You think about what they need, wonder whether they’ll understand, make sure that the thing you’re crafting gets them the desired result. It’s like a Pandora’s Box – by opening the door to these thoughts, you also let in the negativity. As you’re asking “does this solve their problem in the best way,” you’re opening up the possibility that “no, it doesn’t, it’s an awful idea that no one will like and just who do you think you are to do this anyway?” (you can swap out that last sentence with your brand of negative self-talk).
Out of the planning cocoon, your delicate butterfly of an idea is exposed to buffeting wind and rain of everything cruel in the world.
This is where it’s easy to give up, believe the negative voices, and decide it’s not worth it. You could also think those voices and retract back into planning, needing to make a few tweaks or overhaul the entire idea (but spoiler alert, the negative voices won’t like the new idea either because they don’t like anything). Or you might want to rush through part of the process, stick your fingers in your ears and run through the voices. Just get the thing out there as quickly as possible, so you don’t have to hear them anymore.
Usually, I would have taken that the third route, told myself “done is better than perfect” and just put the thing out there before it was ready. I think that it’s often useful to put something out before they’re ready but only for the right reasons – not because you don’t want to sit in the discomfort of getting it right.
This time, remembering my commitment to crafting, I did sit in that discomfort – I am currently sitting in it. I decided to do a focus group, asking volunteers to look over the outline and sales copy and give me feedback. Previously I would have said, “just put the sales page up and let that be the feedback,” but the focus group gave me beneficial feedback. This allowed me to hone the offering and tighten things up. If people ignore a sales page, the feedback isn’t constructive. I spent time thinking about the journey through the offering, what people might need, and researching ways to help them better – all the while batting away the negative thoughts. But actually, the more I crafted and honed this new programme, the quieter the voices became – because it was good, and they didn’t have a leg to stand on.
Of course, the ultimate moment of making a real change in your business is the moment you make it public. Where you share the new thing, make it available to buy, talk about it, and promote it. That is the ultimate psychological barrier to leap. And next week, I’ll be doing just that – so come back then to see what I’ve made.
