PERTINENT INFORMATION LTD. A center for information to help businesses grow faster "Giving You Valued Information"   Susan Pilgrim, Ph.D. specializes in engaging the spirit of individuals, teams, and organizations. Leaving The Comfort Zone (AKA the Danger Zone)

Being a prosperous small business owner today requires more than technical expertise and good management skills. It requires changing your way of thinking. Just as the business environment is changing, so must you. What's new and different today may be approaching obsolescence tomorrow. Business owners must let go of the old ways of doing things and eagerly pursue new ways to service customers, provide quality products, and creatively inform the public about what makes them the right choice. Change is thinking, feeling and doing differently. In order to make changes, you must be willing to move out of the comfort zone. The Dangers of the Comfort Zone We operate in a comfort zone because it's routine, predictable, and a habit. Routine is important in life and business. It's good for maintenance activities -- like getting ready for work and processing invoices. Adhering to procedures and processes makes us more efficient. However, routine can also hinder growth and progress when it's relied on for those tasks that are related to how we think about business. The comfort zone can become a danger zone. When we continue to function on a daily basis the same way we have over time, our thinking becomes rigid. We can see things from only one perspective and we forget there are many ways of looking at the same situation. When we think only one way, our creativity is inhibited. We keep putting out the same advertisements and getting the same results. We decline the opportunity to add an enhancement to our service because it requires more effort and we don't have a guarantee that it will work. We become more fearful of our failures, forgetting that these are valuable opportunities to learn about ourselves. We may be working longer hours, but don't have the sense of satisfaction that we once enjoyed from our efforts. Relationships with those important to us suffer because we act more like robots than a loving, caring, feeling human being who invites stimulation, changes, and risks. The brain receives less stimulation and functions slower. Literal plasticized ruts in the brain are created. Parts of the brain eventually die when they're not used over time. Thinking and doing differently create new neural pathways that can keep the brain functioning at an optimal level. When it comes to your business, It's always worked for us before will be a dying battle cry as competitors move in and take over. Customers want more for their hard-earned dollars. They want attention and to be treated with respect. If the resistance to change isn't released, you'll also lose your employees to boredom, apathy, and even to your competitors. Profits will drop. The Solution So how can you become more comfortable with moving your business out of its comfort zone? To begin, let's look at some ways you personally can make the move. Take small risks in your everyday activities. For example, how about rearranging the furniture in your home or spending a Saturday volunteering for a community house building project? Drive home from work or the mall a different way. At a business luncheon, wear a red suit (for women) or red tie (for men) to attract attention to yourself. When you brush your teeth tonight, use the hand you don't ordinarily use. These suggestions help you move out of your comfort zone because they promote changing your perspective, intensifying your awareness, and giving you the courage and confidence to take more risks in your business. On a business level, you can just as easily take simple risks to move out of the danger zone. Think "What if..." to explore changes that could be made. Like What if we gave the customer a bonus for coming in today? or What if we change the color scheme of our office or the packaging of our product to make it more appealing? Invite some of your customers to meet with you and your employees to brainstorm ideas that will enhance the services and products you offer. Ask your managers and employees What more can we do? How can we do this smarter, faster and more profitably? What can we offer that sets up apart from the competition? Empower your employees and customers to be decision-makers. Encourage all types of input by giving away a lottery ticket for each suggestion put in the "Suggestion Box." On a quarterly basis, meet with a board of directors or advisors for the purpose of exploring innovations for your business. Ask a lot of questions to uncover good ideas and to learn what people think about and want. Go beyond satisfaction and figure out ways you can delight your customers and employees by adding a different twist to a service or product or benefit. Moving out of your comfort zone is challenging. Yet, it's worth the time and effort it takes. You'll find that you're making more conscious choices about your business. You'll have more opportunities to learn what works and what doesn't. You'll discover that letting go of fear and the past is a freeing, energizing experience that allows your business to grow in ways you would never have dreamed possible. Newsletter and Ezine Resource Find exactly what you're looking for In our quest to provide you with tools and information to help you change the way you work and live, we've gathered a comprehensive list of newsletters on all aspects of business and life. The benefits are all there. Click here to go there.

A Practical Guide for Taking Gentle Control of Life Living InSync is a way of life, a way of living, a lifelong process that exemplifies the mind-body-spirit interconnectedness in life. The essence of being InSync is found in the five dimensions of life--physical, emotional, mental, social and spiritual.Living InSync® means assessing and optimizing your personal power, understanding yourself and others, envisioning what you want from life, making conscious choices and pursuing goals to be the person you want to be. By assessing your personal power, you become creative, decisive and productive and can take gentle control of your life. Living InSync® offers a personalized, proactive, step-by-step approach to help you assess where you are in life, who you want to be, and where you want to go. Maintaining a balance between and within the dimensions offers you a perpetual challenge because the evolving nature of your being is dynamic and ever-changing. By responding to life's challenges in new ways and by recognizing that perfection is a static, nonexistent state, you'll experience insights about yourself and the unlimited opportunities for success and peace. You'll find that when you live InSync with yourself, you're more InSync with others and the Spirit.

Dr. Susan Pilgrim, author of Living InSync® -- Creating Your Life with Balance and Purpose (Health Communications Inc.) and Moving InSync® with the Spirit (in press), and president of Life Investments, is an Atlanta-based international speaker, business consultant, and coach. She specializes in engaging the spirit of individuals, teams, and organizations. Her work represents a unique blend of experience and education in the areas of business management, education, and psychology. She customizes programs to meet the needs of the client and designs them to increase personal, professional, and organizational productivity. Susan's committed to positively influencing the lives of those in her audiences. She encourages all who experience her work to invest in themselves so they can get what they want in life. She earned her B.S. at Presbyterian College, her M.Ed. at the University of South Carolina, and her Ph.D. at Georgia State University. Her memberships include the National Speakers Association, American Society for Training and Development, and the Georgia Society of Association Executives. Her columns appear in a number of business, health, and personal development publications. Susan Pilgrim, PhD 877.467.9627 209.825.9459/fax spilgrim@transbay.net

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