August 2006
Making Choices
"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." Benjamin Franklin
I've always loved this quote and only recently realized that it was originally said by Benjamin Franklin. Have you ever done something over and over expecting the results to change? I have!
For about 10 years I loved my work at AT&T and I thought the company was making great progress. Then it became clear that things weren't going well and that the downsizings were coming more and more frequently. It was upsetting to go to work each day. I wanted to be somewhere else but took no steps to make a move. I kept expecting things to change.
Making an active choice in some situations can be hard. The future path is not clear. The known unpleasant situation seems safer than a change. People tend to remain in the same place without making a choice to change. But making no choice is making a choice.
Since I didn't make a choice, I essentially said to myself and others, "This is ok." even when I knew it is not.
Frequently I get calls from lawyers who are concerned that their practices are not growing. What they tell me is they continue to do the same marketing activities they did when they started the practice. It worked then. It continues to work but business isn't increasing. They have reached a plateau.
To get an increase in results a person needs to alter what he/she is doing. This might mean that he or she has to increase the frequency and/or variety of the marketing activities or it could be the person will need to change something else in the practice. Practice Advisors help lawyers to figure out what to do. Coaches and consultants do the same for business owners.
Avoiding making choices is not just limited to business and working situations. It also happens in our personal lives.
Smokers continue to smoke disregarding their cough and the statistics on smoking and cancer. Those who are overweight, claim they want to lose weight, but continue to eat the same amount.
Do you know someone who has a "friend" who continually says things that made the person feel bad about him/herself. Still the person chooses to be in the "friend's" company.
Sometimes people don't make a choice because they don't know they need to!
The first step to making a choice is to become aware that you have one to make.
Recently during our coaching session I asked a client what she was putting up with in her life that she wished she could change. She told me she had 3 large boxes left over from her move in her office. They had been there for months and she had ignored them.
Once she became aware that the choice was hers to make, it was simple. The next week she had found someone to lift the boxes into the storage closet.
Take action:
- Write down one thing that you are putting up with in your work or life? What choice can you make about it? Set a time frame for completing whatever you choose to do. Tell someone else (your Coach or Practice Advisor) about your choice and the deadline for completion.
- Are there actions you are taking on a daily basis that are not producing the results you want? What choices can you make? Set a time frame for completing that choice. Tell someone else (your Coach or Practice Advisor) about your choice and the deadline for completion. Tell them when you meet that deadline.
- Victor Frank said "The last of the human freedoms is to choose
one's attitudes." Are you actively choosing yours? If not make a
conscious effort to choose a positive attitude. Read the book Learned
Optimism by Martin Seligman Ph.D for more information on how to do
that.