Crossing the Threshold: Should I Stay or Should I Grow?

If I told you there was something that you needed to do, so that your business could grow up from where it is now to even greater heights…What would you say? Would you be open to the idea – if it works for you?

Sometimes in business and in life (as they are both intertwined), we are faced with a crossroad. In that pause, one path leads us to more of the same, hoping that this “certain” path will continue to expand for us in time…And the other one leads to an unknown place, promising the very same thing. So, how do we really know which path to choose?

Before we try to activate our GPS, let’s cover some familiar ground first.

Remember when you first had the idea to start or become a part of the business that you have, right now?

In the beginning, all you had was this burning, hot flame of an idea that showed you a vision you couldn’t shake. Even if you tried to dismiss the image as simply another one of your lofty daydreams, it persisted to show itself to you.

Since the feelings you had about it were more exciting than scary (at least most of the time), eventually you had to follow what your inner vision showed you, and you made the commitment necessary to see it through. This took a bit of courage of course, but since the feelings were more positive than not, you trusted your intuition and it payed off. You now are standing right in the middle of that idea for real, and it’s working out for you – big time!

Two things in this example are the keys to making any decision that will turn out to be a good one, if you decide to follow it. The first part is the excitement or the positive energy that’s attached to the vision you have. The second is the repetition of this thought, and the positive feelings behind it.

Sometimes, we have an impulse to do something, and we simply put it aside for a little while. We get to test the water in our mind, without making any commitments on the outside. This is the best way to see if an idea is true, or if it will work out.

Since we have so many thoughts in a day, it can be a little uncertain on the onset to know if we should put stock in what we see. If the idea comes back repeatedly with positive feelings attached to it, that’s our intuition trying to get our attention. It works the other way around, too. If we continue to get a negative emotion about a particular situation we have in mind, then that’s as far as we need to go with it, at least for now. It time, those initial first impressions could change for the better.

So, the two criteria that I always use are: the frequency of the thought coming up even when I put it aside for a bit, and the strength of the positive emotions attached to it. If something comes up more than once and I feel a positive or strong push or pull, I almost always follow that with an open mind to see what the idea has in store for me. The closer you get to any idea, the more it will reveal itself to you – the benefits, as well as the possible downsides. If an idea has more positives than negatives, and the output is not costing more than you’re getting, then it’s almost always a great decision to move forward, and to put the idea into place.

Looking at an idea with an open mind and without skepticism (at least until you examine it further), will almost always show you – exactly what it has in store for you.

Now, the only thing that will get in the way of a new idea becoming a complete success is being partial to where the idea is coming from, as all of us are making new discoveries every day...

Let me explain.

It’s very common for all of us (especially when we happen to know a lot about a given subject) to take what we know now, as the only truth available. While this is a very good place to build a solid foundation of certainty on, with time, even the best ideas will need to expand to create a better outcome than we're currently getting. Sometimes this will be an adjustment to what's already in place, and other times a situation will ask for something new, so that the entire system can work better. As you go along, time will show you which option would be best to suit your given circumstances.

So if you find an adjustment needs to be made, will you be open to something “new” that’s asking for your attention, or will you be content to stand on that magic carpet beneath your feet? What if it’s very comfortable and looks fabulous, but it’s just standing still? How long will you be happy “there” if the returns will continue to be about the same? If we desire more, sometimes we have to take a step forward from where we are standing now, and that's when a new idea comes into the picture.

Every good idea (even the one you had to become involved with your business) has its time and place. Wherever we happen to be, if we want to grow, life and our bottom line will always be asking for more of something, so that it can expand for us. In business especially, this could mean more: time, money, energy, a new product or service, etc. As a matter of fact, that’s how you got to where you are right now, as the business literally wasn’t there for you yet…You had to keep moving past your initial idea of it – to make it happen.

When you’re faced with a new idea or plan to implement for example, the same familiar process is at work. So, this current movement is a perfect mix of both old and new territory at the same time. Since you’ve been a part of your business, you’ve made hundreds or thousands of successful choices to grow what you have. So if a new idea looks positive or lucrative and the benefits outweigh the costs, then it really isn’t a risk at all to move ahead with it. If the idea is solid even under close inspection, and you feel more positive about it than not, then – there’s your answer!

Once and a while, we have to remember that we’ll be faced with making some new choices, even if it’s just putting a new twist on an old favorite. With a little patience, an open mind, and a closer inspection (in the end), the best choices will always reveal exactly what they have to offer. Just like repeating the steps you took to get where you are now (and with great success I might add). In essence, you’re just moving yourself forward, once again. No matter where we are or what our goals happen to be, moving ourselves around is how we maintain, and grow what we have. Action is simply a major part of how we obtain what we want, and if the positive results will be there for us, the steps will be easier to make, once we take our first step...

In time as we make more decisions, we’ll realize that it’s not so much about making the perfect decisions, as it is in recognizing a good thing when we see it, and being willing to put it into place as soon as possible, so the rewards can start rolling in. No matter how good an idea is or where it comes from, it only really works when we decide to say "yes" to it. How long it takes to get us from here to there – is usually the only real choice we’re faced with. And since time is always here for us as long as we are, there’s no time like the present to begin enjoying what’s now available to us, regardless of where the good idea comes from.

Ideas for growth and expansion are always here. Once they’re recognized for what they truly are, it’s the winner who decides to take full advantage of that opportunity. If not now, then when would be the right time to become, even happier?

I hope this layout of the decision making process, gave you just what you needed to give that new idea for growth – the green light. You’ve already got it, so now it’s just a matter of putting one foot in front of the other, just like you have so many times before. Or, if stopping to finish this article made you forget for a moment…The gas pedal is on the right...Now just give it a little push, and there you go!