The Success Lie. Janelle Bruland

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СКАЧАТЬ an entrepreneur is an exhilarating and challenging adventure, and as mentioned in the last chapter, a rollercoaster of highs and lows. I have made mistakes and learned many valuable lessons along the way. Through it all I learned to think beyond the narrow bounds of a successful career to a significant life. I developed the Leader’s Success Plan provided at the end of the book, which is a proven system you can follow to design a life of purpose and significance. There is no silver bullet, and the path is not always easy, but it is well worth it. Let me help you uncover the truths that have held you back, and transform your life to the one you have always dreamed of, one simple choice at a time.

      Choose Your Response

      I have often been asked how I have been successful in life and business, especially making it through the deep recession, when many companies failed. I have found that the secret of continued progress is due to two responses used repeatedly through the good and especially the challenging times of my life.

      My first response to challenges is a natural tendency toward optimism. This optimism is something I can summon in any given situation and reflects my general perception of life as a “cup half full” versus “half empty.” The second response is one of tenacity; I tend to choose to never give up, no matter what happens. When you fall down, or are even kicked down, you always get back up, put one foot in front of the other and keep going.

      My optimism and tenacity were challenged on a number of occasions. I went through my own personal trauma years ago when I suddenly found myself a single mother to my three daughters.

      During this time, I could have given up and certainly wanted to at times. I had a choice to make. Was I going to let this troubling situation paralyze me or would I persevere through the struggles? It was difficult, but I made the decision that I was going to be the best parent I could be, the best employer, and have the best business.

      I read a very helpful book at the time by Larry Wilson called Play to Win. In it, he describes two kinds of people:

      1 “Playing not to lose: Avoiding situations where we might lose, fail, be emotionally hurt, or be rejected.1

      2 Playing to win: Consciously choosing to go as far as we can with all that we have and learning from whatever happens.”2

      Most people like to face life by playing not to lose, by doing everything they can to play it safe. Those who take the road less traveled are playing to win. With this mindset, I cannot fail. I can only learn and grow!

      Listen to Your Own Voice

      I was a single mother for many years. My family has always been my primary purpose, with my business pursuits coming second. However, the heavy responsibility of supporting my family completely on my own, as well as the responsibility of leading a growing company was especially daunting during this challenging time.

      I decided to meet with an industry consultant whom I respected. I told him of the importance to me of being a good parent first and shared my thoughts of working less than full time, as well as my plans to continue to grow my business successfully to the next level. He told me, “You will not be able to continue the positive upward trend you have experienced working less than full time. You need to commit to working 40 hours plus per week – or more like 50 to 60 hours – to accomplish your goals.”

      My best decision was to not listen to that consultant’s advice. Instead, I became even more committed to my part-time work week. In fact, I decided to schedule myself completely out of the office one day of the week. In the next two years, my business grew more than 130 percent. More importantly, because of the decision to work part time, my children grew up with a mom who didn’t miss the important events in their lives, took the time to volunteer for their school activities, and provided an example of what it can mean to be successful at work and at home.

      Choose Your Mindset

      My optimism and tenacity were not just challenged in my personal life but in business too. One of the most challenging times for our business was when the Great Recession hit. Overnight, our world changed drastically. I observed several clients struggle financially, and one client partner of over 13 years was shut down by the FDIC. There was a spirit of fear around us. Many of my staff had spouses or family members who had lost jobs or businesses, and our own project division dropped 30% overnight. It was a scary time to be a business owner. I have to admit there were some sleepless nights worrying about providing for all of the families who called MSNW home. I remember one moment when it seemed things were crashing down around us, and I too, allowed myself to become paralyzed by fear. One of my managers pulled me aside and said to me, “Janelle, you are always the one that puts the wind in our sails, but you can also take it out.”

      That was a wake-up call for me. I made the fundamental decision that day to do whatever it took to thrive in the down economy, to learn whatever lessons we could as a company and use them to prepare for a great future.

      This type of mindset is a choice. It’s a choice that takes work and means not looking at problems as insurmountable, but rather as opportunities. Dr. Carol Dweck, in her book Mindset, calls this approach a “growth mindset” versus “a fixed mindset.” A fixed mindset is where one identifies themselves as someone who cannot change; one who feels labeled by their failures; and gets quickly discouraged when things become hard. On the other hand, a growth mindset is one, as I have described, where every difficulty provides an opportunity to learn and take yourself forward.3 Dweck says, “You have a choice. Mindsets are just beliefs. They’re powerful beliefs, but they’re just something in your mind, and you can change your mind.” 4

       It’s a choice that takes work and means not looking at problems as insurmountable, but rather as opportunities.

      By choosing this growth mindset, you seek to constantly find a way to move forward towards positive solutions. Sometimes it’s not easy. There were days I felt deflated and wondered how I would go into the office and face our team when I knew the challenges ahead. Again, what I had to do was make the choice to not allow myself to wallow in self-pity and to instead move forward in confidence. Trusting my business, employees and clients was also a choice. All of these small choices, made day after day, slowly brought us through the worst of it.

      Once I had stopped listening to outside forces and committed to the positive continued success of my business, I began to act in a way that supported the choices that I had made. This impacted the entire team, encouraging them to make their own choices about attitude and commitment. We even talked about how we put on our company uniform in a different way. Similar to a team member working at Disneyland who puts on the princess costume and becomes a princess, we can leave our situations behind when we come to work as soon as we put on our costume. No matter what challenge was being faced at home; I encouraged them to believe that when they came into work and put on the MSNW logo shirt, they became MSNW. That shirt means you’re positive, you’re passionate, and you’re going to have a really great day. It was actually a very helpful reminder that way – both simple, yet tangible.

       Every reaction, interaction and conversation is a choice for the future.

      This example is poignant to me as it was a stark reminder that we live life based on our own design. From then on it was clear that every reaction, interaction and conversation was a choice for the future. At the time we were in an office space that we had significantly outgrown. Our human resources manager didn’t even have an office door. While everyone was saying, “hunker down,” “wait for everything to blow over,” “hold on to your money,” I purchased a new office for our company that was twice the size of the one we were in. This bold move helped to position us for further growth. Because of that decision we were able to take on a regional СКАЧАТЬ