FOCUS: Change the Lens

I’m over 50 and like many of my friends this age – we have readers in every room, in the car, in my purse, etc. They are everywhere. While it can be frustrating not to be able to read my phone screen without finding my glasses, I have now gotten used to having them around. Humans are very adaptable. As we wrap up week 4 of Sheltering In Place, we can see that there is some evidence that our inconveniences are making a very real difference and saving lives. Just as the inconvenience of having to add a new lens to my eyes in the form of readers helps me see clearly, this pandemic is forcing a new lens on every entrepreneur. We are having to look at our businesses differently.

Here are a few items to FOCUS on this week:

1) Focus on who you can be, not who you were.

We often define ourselves by our work. When that work is halted, it can be very jarring. Maybe this is the time to shift or pivot based on your dreams, values, and ideals.

Check in with who you want to be – maybe you became a hair dresser but always had a true passion for counselling? If your work was not in alignment with who you want to be, this the time to explore your options. Take time to write/journal, meditate and ask yourself my favorite question “I wonder…..?”

If your business was in alignment with who you want to be, is now a time to change the lens and magnify your vision? Could you be playing bigger? Is there an opportunity for you to step up?

2) FOCUS on what you have to offer.

I teach a class called Pinnacle Gift – I know that my strengths are in being a leader, being creative, seeing the big picture AND the small steps that need to be implemented to achieve your goals. I am lucky that I can still provide my coaching and peer advisory services online. There are many resources available to find your strengths: Gallops Strengthsfinder is a great tool.

Now is a perfect time to do some self – reflection on what are your unique strengths and how do you use them to serve those who need those strengths in their lives.

If you have a service based business – how can you continue to provide some of the features of that service? What intangibles that you were giving your clients in person, that you may be able to continue online? Hair salon for example: you give advice, comfort, self-awareness, self- improvement, self-esteem. How can you find a way to offer those same feelings to your clients virtually while on this break?

Here are some creative examples for in person services -changing the lens of their businesses:

**A wedding DJ who had all her bookings cancelled, began offering personalized “isolation playlists.
**A comedy writer on quarantine now offers haikus, limericks or poems.
** A salon is offering to mix your hair tint formula and deliver it to your doorstop with “how to” instructions. She asked them to send her video of them applying the color.
**A photographer is doing “front porch portraits”, staying in your front yard, while the family poses on the front porch to capture the memories of all this family time!

This week, I encourage you to FOCUS on who you CAN BE and what YOU have to offer! You can do this! Look at it through a new lens.

Stay safe, stay connected and stay grateful!

P.S. Go download a copy of my free checklist to Attract and Keep more clients click on: www.MoreClientsChecklist.com