Shallow End Of The Pool

Over the past few years I've really found my mojo when it comes to helping people.

Whether it's helping someone be a better connector and build a better personal or professional network or helping them find clarity on an idea and take the necessary steps forward to make things happen, I've really enjoyed making some positive Ripples for my clients. These unique strategy sessions have propelled my clients to change careers, build companies, make significant strides in their career paths and find personal strength and courage to be the person, the leader, the entrepreneur they really want to be. Talk about creating some Ripples.

Why am I telling you all this?

Because I recently had an Aha Moment, as my good friend Dianna Amorde might say that took even me by surprise. I was working with someone recently who was contemplating a change in career. She had grown stagnant in her position and the "company" had no room for growth.

She had a startup she was contemplating, something that has market appeal. She was noodling on it in her spare time and trying to get the courage to launch it "officially" and see where it might go. Her main concern was whether it would be sustainable enough to let her leave her full-time job. She had done a few "test" runs on her offering with positive results. The feedback she received was better than she expected. She was happy with the direction and felt that the offering was "almost" at the launch stage. The problem was she simply not pulling the trigger. Aside from her initial test cases, she was not letting people know about what it was she was doing. Despite putting herself in several ideal situations where she could have made some significant progress on her new venture (i.e. attracted new clients), she continually failed to speak up, share her story and ask for the business. When I asked her why she was hesitant she indicated she didn't feel ready.

So I asked her, if not now, when would she? The light bulb went off. She had been feeling really comfortable wading around in the shallow end of the pool where market research, product development, and a few friendly fire test customers were floating nearby. It was safe and comfortable. She was ignoring the simple fact that the real opportunity, her real business, and its future success lie just beyond the shallow water out there in the much deeper end of the pool.

She'd need to make some Ripples in order to get there but if she'd do it, her life and her career would inevitably be better for it. A few weeks after this conversation took place she jumped in. She made her splash and launched her business. She felt empowered to leave the safe calm waters and venture out to make some waves of her own. She needed a push. She needed some encouragement. She needed a plan that she could follow to maximize her opportunities. Together we worked on all of that and then some.

Today she is navigating the waters of her new venture, kicking butt and taking names.    

The Aha-Moment came when she asked me, "Why doesn't everyone utilize you?" To which I smiled and surely said I don't know. But I do. You see, I myself hang out in the shallow end of the pool more often than I should. Clients and opportunities find me, usually from referrals, and I suppose that has been comfortable up until now. But when I look at that logic, it isn't much different than what my client was using.

Success is not found in the shallow end of the pool. It's out there creating waves for yourself.

Stay tuned as I venture into the deeper end of the pool myself.

Ripple On!!!