When it comes to running a business, belonging to an organization or living your life, there are ups and downs – things beyond your control that impact you directly.
For your business, the economy can tank, making it harder for you to make sales.
A trusted employee can leave. A marketing strategy that’s worked for years can suddenly stop sending you new business.
Whenever things go bad, you have a choice – to be a thermostat or a thermometer. A thermometer reports current conditions – what’s the temperature right now. That’s all it can do.
A thermostat however, controls the temperature. Too hot? Turn the thermostat down. Too cold? Turn it up.
If the economy tanks, your employees leave, your best customer decides to work with someone new don’t just sit and complain about it. Be a thermostat and make changes. Do more marketing, be more creative, try something new.
“When life hands you lemons make lemonade” isn’t just a cliché. It’s a blueprint for how to run your business. You can’t control everything that happens. You can only control what you think, say and do.
So go out and be a thermostat!
Andrea J. Stenberg
I’d love to hear what you think. Please leave a comment.
Love the analogy! Change is inevitable but forward momentum and progress it’s up to us. Whenever things don’t go my way I always have choices and opportunities to turn things around- even if just my attitude.
Have a grateful day!
Chrysta
Chrysta,
Glad you found the post helpful. You are right, change is inevitable. It’s helpful to remember we have a choice about how we respond.
Thanks for visiting.
Andrea
Loved this… I stumbled upon your blog today and absolutely love it and will follow it.
Words of wisdom, Andrea. So many small business owners have just thrown their hands up in surrender to this economy. Instead of looking at challenges as opportunities, they see only barriers to things being the way they used to be. Change and innovation are critical to a successful business.
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I like this analogy. It reminds me of one of my favorite sayings “you can’t course correct when you’re standing still.” External circumstances happen. We have no control over them. All we have control over is how we react to them. Humans are like bicycles, if we don’t keep moving forward, we fall down. Our thoughts are like the thermostat. We decide how we want to react. xoxo
Amy
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Amy Pearson
Master Martha Beck Life Coach
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Great analogy! Thanks for the encouragement!
Such a great reframe!!
What a clever way to realize the power we have to respond appropriately to conditions and not just bitch and moan about them. Here’s to being a thermostat!