I just received the following email from one of my clients. He describes a story I see quite often!
Jackie,
I use the ideas in your book every day. I even bought a copy for a few friends of mine who are struggling with their businesses. One has a wedding cake business that I think could do really well as she is an artist with cakes. But she does so much other stuff. She seems very interested in the book, but when I asked her about it- she said she didn’t have time to read it! And then she told me of how business was slow! I wanted to say- look at what you’re doing! You have an option to learn something new. But I didn’t. It’s her life. Why do you think people are interested in new ideas and then don’t read about them? Even when they see how I have turned my business around?
Ethan R.
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Hello Ethan,
Sometimes I find that creatives resist making changes in their actions even when they know that what they are doing now is not working. I guess it is that old thing about us wanting to get different outcomes from the same old inputs So instead of doing something different, we do what we have always been doing but we do it louder, faster and more often. And, guess what, we still don’t get different outcomes. We are stubborn and want it to work OUR WAY no matter what- and many times we would rather complain and suffer and maybe blame others and become cynical than change.
There are some strong elements of personal mastery and discipline that underlie the principles of Better Smarter Richer which is why just saying you want to change is not enough. I believe that successful creatives are ready for bigger steps than only changing their business practices- which means they are ready for the book and eagerly make the changes needed. Here are the elements I see in the people who get so much from the book:
– Determination to achieve your dreams
– Insistence on good outcomes and success for yourself
– Belief that you deserve the life you envision
– Commitment to taking the steps to make it happen
All of these elements are what make you strong, make you a professional artist and make you willing to do whatever it takes to create the future you want. The principles in BSR are not simple even though they may sound simple. That’s why people can say they WANT to change, but find the doing part much harder. I would say that you have probably worked on the above steps as much as you have the principles in the book!
Jackie
