Adapt And Thrive!

by Bonnie Boots

I'm worried about a client. He began working on an ebook and sales page a year ago. Now he says he's almost ready to publish and wants me to help him set up his sales page.

The web changes frequently and fast. And in the last month the whole world has changed. The information in his book is now outdated. His price is based on what people were paying last year. I'm convinced his window of opportunity has closed.

I gave him my best advice. I told him that what would have worked a year ago will not work now.

He doesn't want to hear what I have to say. He's been working on this idea, off and on (mostly off) for a year. He's married to the idea. And now that he's almost at the point of publishing, he's not going to give up on it.

He's making one of the worst mistakes anyone can make. He's failing to adapt.

You may have heard that Darwin's theory is "survival of the fittest." That's a mistake. His actual theory is that the members of a species that are fastest to adapt to change are the fittest and most likely to survive.

For example, when the ice age hit, some creatures adapted by developing warm-blooded systems. They survived. Creatures that hung on to their cold-blooded systems died out.

I've been though a lot of turmoil in my life, and I've survived by making changes--fast. I've learned not to tie my sense of identity to material things and to be flexible in my thinking. When I'm in a tough spot, the first thing I do is look to see what changes I can make that will have a positive effect, and I make them.

For example, in the 80's I was a successful business owner. I sold that business and was working on opening another when I was injured in an auto accident. I left the house one morning a proud, independent and intelligent person. I came home almost completely disabled.

Because of my injuries, my ability with language was impaired, so I couldn't read or write. I could only stand or sit for a few minutes at a time. It took a full year for my language skills to recover. It took two year before I could sit or stand long enough to work.

By then, my savings were gone and I'd sold almost everything I could do without. I needed work and I needed it fast. I made a list of all the skills I had, went through the employment ads and the next day talked my way into a job doing menial sewing in a tiny factory.

I didn't spend one minute bemoaning the fact that the work was beneath me. I was glad to have a paycheck, glad to have some evidence that I was moving forward even in a humble way. And I immediately put all my energy into planning what my next step forward would be and calculating when I could take it.

In other words, I adapted to change.

But today I read a story of a man who would not adapt to change. He'd become fabulously wealthy over the last few years, had been interviewed and written about in magazines as a brilliant investor and wealth builder. He lived in a mansion, had flashy cars in the driveway and enjoyed showing off his success.

Then over the last six months, everything changed. He lost all his wealth. And last week, he took a gun and killed his wife, his three children and then himself.

He was married to the idea of himself as someone that lived a fabulously wealthy lifestyle. And he would not adapt to the change.

I was so sad, reading that news. And I was appalled. Imagine the ego of a man that would kill his family simply to make sure no one, not one living person, ever knew his fortune had changed.

When crisis struck my life, I adapted a do or die attitude, When crisis struck this man's life, he adapted an "I'd rather die than do" attitude."

And ultimately, it was attitude that made the difference in each of our lives, and his family's death.

Change is frightening for most people. And because it frightens them, they resist it. But I'm here to tell you that making the choice to change when you see that circumstances have changed is the only way to survive.

The Chinese pictogram for crisis is made up of two  symbols--the symbol for danger and the symbol for opportunity.

Those ancient Asians knew that in troubled times, the people who survive are those who keep an eye out for the danger and look for the opportunities.

Crisis is here. So is danger. Therefore, so is opportunity. The great strength of nimble entrepreneurs and small business owners marketing on the internet is that they can respond quickly to change, seek out opportunities and jump on them.

So adapt and thrive!
 

In all the economic confusion, it can be hard to know what to do next. FEAR NOT! Bonnie Boots will help you focus on a prosperous future  and guide you to your practical next step. Click here to learn why Next Step Coaching is right for you!

 
About the Author

Bonnie Boots publishes The Internet Wizards Magazine and the companion The Internet Wizards Blog to teach self-employed people and small businesses owners how to leverage the internet for advertising, marketing and promoting their business. To stay in touch with her, type your name and email into the subscriber box in the left column of this page. You'll be glad you did!

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