Your Thing evolves. You evolve. You grow, you adapt, you stretch, you get even clearer on what your Thing is. So yes—you change.
Now this sort of change is NOT the same as constantly changing your mind. That's just confusion...
Is it this? Is it that? Maybe I'll try the other? Hmm, maybe it's just over there? Hang on it's just this thing—switch, chop and change. That's not helpful in your business as both you and your market are left in a swirl of indecision. As I am rather too fond of saying sometimes... you just need to "pick a horse and ride it". At least for one race, to get started!
Now, as you get better as rider—or want to tackle a different race—then yes, you might need a new horse. But you wouldn't switch a horse mid-ride or mid-race, would you? Not unless you're some kind of circus cowboy... and that's exactly what you will start to look like it you are switching your 'Thing' all the time and not focusing on one thing.
Absolutely... you can do your Thing in different ways—you can run different projects doing your Thing, you can take your Thing to different markets, you can make you Thing more or less intense, you can have different flavours of your Thing—BUT NOT ALL AT THE SAME TIME!
You can't start baking a cake then decide halfway through it's going to be a cassoulet; you can't have the perfect corporate pitch and take it on the road to soul driven solopreneurs in the same breath. Of course you can do ALL those things, but not at the same time. You need to separate them out.
Switching and changing your focus is absolutely allowed, but make it part of your story. See it as evolution, not chaos, theory.
I know I've evolved. It's hard not to when you're paying attention constantly to what you love and how you like to best do your Thing—if you listen you'll see what's ideal each time you do it. What I do now isn't exactly what I did on Day 1. That said, my Thing is... just my message, my focus and my methods aren't.
Embrace change but as evolution where your Thing improves. If you're changing in the midst of chaos and lack of clarity, you need to pick a horse for your first race first.
Once you've ridden one horse in one race you'll know if you want to stay on it or pick a different horse, or course, next time. But without getting 'in the race' you'll just be running around the stables confused and confusing others.
Change your mind when you've done your Thing not before. That's the way of improvement not illusion.
Now go ride 'em cowboy (or cowgirl!)—one horse at a time.
Want to talk more about this?
Leave a Reply