Check Your Premises - Keep Updating
by Terry Brock - @TerryBrock
Be really careful of your assumptions. Ayn Rand was famous for her admonition to “Check your premises.” If you were successful in the past doing something, it is easy to assume (there’s that nasty word) that you can do the same thing —- or something very similar —- and get the same success today.
Nope!
The marketplace keeps changing. What was cool and what worked years ago might not work at all today.
I’ve seen this in my life. I was a successful radio broadcaster when I was a Junior in high school. Actually it was more like in the senior year and immediately thereafter. I practiced. A lot! I had a wonderful, excellent mentor or two. They really cared about helping this young kid and I listened and applied what they told me as much as I could.
I then went on to be on the campus radio station in undergrad. It was fun. People around campus loved what I did. They even ribbed me about playing a bit too much “lively” music for my morning show. All in good fun but they loved it, and so did I.
After graduation I went on to work at a combo AM/FM radio station doing a show on one and selling ads, doing voice overs, and more on both. I was pretty good. They even offered me the position of being manager—- at a very nice increase in salary —- after being there a few months. I turned it down so I could go back to school for my MBA. But that’s another story.
It would be easy to think, “Oh, I was successful before doing such and such. I’ll just plug those talents and actions into this new thing-a-ma-bob and I’ll be golden. The point though is that it can be dangerous to be successful.
Not so fast, sparky!
The world is constantly changing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know that. However, we often think it doesn’t apply to us in our situation.
That is very dangerous.
You can be behind and not know it. You can be out of date and think you’re really cool (and you’re not).
The answer? Stay in tune with right now. Stay in tune with what is working today —- and equally what is not working today.
Keep updating your skill set to be what the market wants today. This is the key. Don't assume (there’s that nasty word again) you know what is working. Test. Test again. And yes, test again and again. Never stop testing, keeping your “ear to the ground” so to speak. The market’s desires are changing. Competition is changing. You have to change and adapt.
Yes, build on your strengths, but don’t get lulled into thinking that you are super cool and don’t have to adapt and adjust. If you keep adapting and adjusting based on what the market is desiring now, you will build on top of that previous success and do even better.
Check the coaching help you need for your business and life. Stop by TerryBrock.com and leave a note. Achieve the success you deserve.
