Benjamin Franklin observed that, "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." True enough. Yet there is one other certainty in life, and that is change. Death is final and taxes are a miserable part of life, but in my observation, it is change that causes the most stress – often on a daily basis.
Change either paralyzes or energizes, and there doesn't seem to be much middle ground. As a writer, speaker and storyteller, I have always been fascinated by how change lifts some and crushes others. Why is it that only a few are able to grasp the shifts in their industries and shape them into the energy to create new paradigms and new ways of doing business, while others just become completely trapped; unable to go back because the old way just isn't there any longer, yet also unable to move forward?
In my speaking engagements and in my columns and blogs I often share stories of how paradigm pioneers create new ways of doing business – or even create completely new businesses – often to great success. I have seen firsthand the almost spiritual awakening that happens to those who are paralyzed when they hear and understand those stories and begin applying them to their businesses.
