Wednesday 28 October 2015

Moving Out Of Your Comfort Zone

I'll Never Move

Honestly, if someone had told me when I was leaving University that I would be living in Cairns, and loving it, I never would have believed them. I was so comfortable on the Gold Coast...I'll never move, but I did and it was the best decision I've ever made.

At the time though I was not so confident. I was basically forced into moving from the Gold Coast to Cairns due to a hand injury. Long story short, I couldn't work and after two years of sitting on my bum, I thought it was time to do a bit of traveling.

This lead me to Cairns and once I got settled, I thought I would stay for 12 months and just see what I thought of the place...anyway 23 years later I'm still here and I have zero regrets.

Stagnent 

Staying were you feel comfortable could be holding you back from amazing things. I know it's hard to leave friends and family, but if that's what you have to do...then do it.

I moved to Cairns apprehensively, and initially business was great because there was only one other Podiatrist in town when I arrived, so it wasn't hard to make a living, but today, some 20 + years later there are 13 podiatry clinics.

I could be complaining that there's too many podiatrist and wasting mental energy on how I can beat them, but instead I don't give them a second thought and use all my mental energy on how I can make my business better.

Safety Net

Could I have achieved the same success if I didn't leave the Gold Coast? Maybe, but if things really went pear shaped, I always had the safety net of being able to move back home. I didn't have this luxury in Cairns.

Sometimes you need to burn your bridges, so there's no way of turning back, and this commitment to the cause will pay dividends long term.

If you love where you live and you have no complaints about your income and earning capacity, then there's no need to be looking elsewhere, however if you're not earning what you feel you should and you're not providing for your family adequately, then consider moving.

It's More Than A Location

But moving out of your comfort zone is not just about your location and where you live, it's also about pushing yourself in other areas. If you do not like public speaking, which use to scare me to death,  then you should do it. Speaking in public opens so many business opportunities.

If you don't think you're very good at writing, just start doing it and you will get better. The more you write, the more writing opportunities will arise.

When you move out of your comfort zone - amazing things happen. 

If you enjoyed this blog, please share with your friends and family on Google + and Facebook. 

Tyson E. Franklin
Author | Mentor | Speaker 



Invest In Yourself

The best investment you can ever make is in yourself

I recently returned from the United States where I attended a marketing summit in Denver, run by Rem Jackson from Top Practices, and then a second conference in Phoenix called 3-Days To Success run by Dave Frees.

Both events were awesome, but for completely different reasons.

Denver

The first event in Denver was all about marketing, which for any business is extremely important, and if you do not have a marketing plan in place you need to develop one.

Too often business owners only think about marketing when there's a downturn in business and as soon as their business numbers are looking good again they stop. This helicopter type marketing is not a good habit to fall into.

When it comes to marketing your business you need to look at all your marketing pillars, and if you've read my book, It's No Secret...There's Money In Podiatry', you'll know exactly what I mean.

The more marketing pillars you can have supporting your business, the more stable your business will be long-term.

For those of you unaware of my 6 Marketing Pillars, here they are:
  1. Professional Referrals 
  2. Non-Professional Referrals
  3. Internal Marketing 
  4. External Marketing
  5. Verbal Marketing 
  6. Web-Based Marketing
Every marketing pillar holds the same value and all marketing pillars should be worked on simultaneously.  

Phoenix

The second event I attended in Phoenix was not about marketing, but more about mindset. How you think and act will have a huge effect on your long-term business success. 

It's hard to go into specifics, but you need to understand that happiness, as well as success is a mental choice, and nothing happens by accident. 

Your thinking, or mindset, has a massive influence on how you behave and also how you react in certain situations. Why will one person run and hide, while another person will stand and fight when faced with the same adversity? 

It's how your brain responds and interprets certain stimuli. This is a very deep subject, and far more technical than I can go into right here, but this is why you need to invest in yourself, and you need to attend as many workshops and seminars as you can, because you are the most important person in your business, so you need to invest in yourself. 

Please share this blog with family and friends if you found it of interest. 

Tyson E. Franklin - Author | Mentor