By Dan Klein – CEO, Sage Marketing
So last week I went into a bookstore, yup an old fashioned locally owned bookstore. The smell of the books brought me back to a time when that was a normal thing. After I picked out the book I went in to buy, I saw on one of the display tables they had puzzles. I thought to myself, “hey – when’s the last time I sat and did a puzzle, I used to love those” so I bought it. The completed puzzle is pictured above.
On Friday night I couldn’t have been more excited to open it up and dive right in. When I was finished on Saturday I was thinking about how amazing sitting and doing a puzzle helped clear my mind, and then I thought about how this relates to what I do every day. I know what you may be thinking, how does this relate to growing a business? I’m going to tie it all in together, trust me on this one. Here’s what I learned:
At first, I was thinking “there’s no way I can do this”. I bought a 1,000-piece puzzle and when I took it out of the box it seemed impossible. There were reds, pinks, greens and a whole lot of Marilyn’s to figure out. I felt overwhelmed with how random it all seemed. At first, I successfully created an impressive pile of puzzle pieces.
Try something and see what works. I started to see similarities in the pieces and went with that. Then I got some momentum and just kept going. If I had given up when I wasn’t sure what to do, the puzzle would still be sitting on my dining room table in that darn box.
Changing my perspective helped a lot. I was sitting working on the puzzle and when I got frustrated I stood up. Seeing the puzzle from a different perspective helped me fill in the areas I couldn’t figure out. Then I sat for a while, then I stood again. Changing my perspective as I was working is what made the difference.
In your day to day business or work life do you feel overwhelmed or stuck when you start a project (or look to grow your business)? We all do from time to time. Doing the puzzle helped me realize that I can take some of this with me to work and helping my clients.
Think about how positive growing your business would be if you’re not overwhelmed at the start, you take action every day, and you remember to change your perspective to see a possibility that you may have overlooked. Sounds like a nice way to grow a business.
And yes, I will definitely be buying another puzzle very soon.