A Season of Shedding

I’ve started off the year by getting rid of things. Jane, my organizer friend, would say that’s a good thing. But I’m not talking about emptying closets and trips to the curb.

I’ve been shedding bits and pieces of my business. It feels like a weight off my shoulders; casting off the old to make room for the new, a fresh start… and many more clichés. This year I am focused and oh boy, am I getting in control.

Some decisions have been difficult ones – like finally putting my training career to rest. Some have been much easier – like getting rid of my Yellow Pages ad after 7 years of no payoff. (Can you believe this? The rep actually said, “Well, what’s $16 a month?”)

All have been the result of the Plan I developed at bootcamp last month. I have never understood the terms ‘niche’ and ‘specialize’ like I do now. What a pleasant surprise: decision-making has now become so much easier and straight-forward. No waffling. Does it fit with the Plan? No? Then, out the door with it, no fuss, no second-guessing. I’ve even turned away business that didn’t fit with the Plan.

Creating the Plan was really the decision point. Now it’s simply measuring – does it fit or not. And even when it fits in the hips but not across the shoulders – well that’s not a fit either. Time to go back to the rack.

What I find amusing as I sit and write this article is that suddenly all the clichés seem to apply when everything is moving in the right direction. Game on. Got a leg up. Good to go. Lean and mean.

Now we’re cooking with fire.
 

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