This past year has been a strange one.  On the one hand, it felt like we were running ten Comrades marathons in succession!  On the other hand, it appeared as if the year went on AWOL.

It was a year of much disruption, loss, and isolation. At the same time, it appeared as if this isolation and limiting of activity, gave nature an opportunity to breathe and start to recover.

Businesses, both corporate and small had to reinvent how they served their customers and clients. Part of that meant looking with fresh eyes at the same landscape.

This quote by Marcel Proust speaks to this principle, “The real voyage of discovery consists, not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”

In essence, what we look at is not nearly as important as how we look at it. Our perception of the world is what creates our life experience.

We call 2021 the New year, and I submit to you that we need to look at our businesses with new eyes.

Here are some “new” ways to look at your business.

I recall the absolute joy of experiencing a paragliding trip off Signal hill. Yes, it was with an experienced pilot, but it was the closest thing to my dream of actually flying!  Being up there, it was stunning how your perspective changes. Tall buildings appear small, the layout is different and the sense of the beauty of this coastline is enhanced.  Watching these paragliders from the ground is a very different experience from flying hundreds of meters above sea level.

So think about what would you do differently if: –

  • You had no restrictions and no financial challenges?   What long-term opportunities have you set aside because of the urgency of the short-term crisis?
  • You saw your business and offering consistently through the eyes of your customers? What new product, service, or offering lies waiting for you to develop with this shift?
  • You saw competitors differently, as those that could complete rather than threaten?  What collaboration could be harnessed?
  • You consider what opportunities lie unploughed outside our borders, whether these be geographical or virtual?
  • You set aside resources and time to regularly “climb to new perspectives” with your new eyes?
  • You focused forward, learning from the past.  In any 4 wheeled vehicle, the windscreen normally is much bigger than the rearview mirror. The lesson?  Move forward not by focussing backward, but by referencing the past.
  • You stopped focussing on the resources that you didn’t have but focussed on that which you do. It is refreshing to do an audit on your support structure and what “treasures” you have…..in your home, business, and self.

There are no quick fixes or silver bullets, but as Wayne Dwyer says, “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”

Here’s to new opportunities for you and your business in 2021!