Roll with the Changes

Monday Morning Match is a quick post – maybe a quote, inspirational story or idea – intended to spark some motivation inside each of you so your week gets off to a fantastic start on Monday morning.

It came without any warning. A simple text message letting me know my flight had been cancelled. It did offer me a toll free number to rebook or request a refund but other than that, no explanation or suggestions on what to do next. Luckily with a user-friendly mobile app and a little patience, I was able to rebook my itinerary, even though I’ll now reach my destination about 7 hours later than I was planning.

Sometimes, plans change. It’s not ideal but what can I do about it? I have no control over the weather or airline logistics. Flying is amazing but over the years, I have come to the realization that I prefer clear skies over winter storms and I also enjoy planes that work instead of planes that don’t. If that means I’m a travel snob, just call me Thurston Howell III.

Frederick Hayes said, “There is no way to make people like change. You can only make them feel less threatened by it.” The longer you are in a sales career, you start to realize that everything we do revolves around change. People’s lives change through marriage, growing families, or job changes. Change happens when people die, get divorced, or lose a job. When the market changes it create an energy (positive or negative) or forces a disruption in some aspect of how the job is done. Some people change brokerages or specialties looking to make a change in their overall business results.

How do you react when change happens? Do you get selfish, defensive, or negative? Do you pause, breathe, and recalculate your trajectory?

In most cases, like mine this week, the destination remains the same. It’s the journey that will now be different. I’ll still have opportunities to build relationships, solve problems, and have fun. I just won’t be doing it on that 7:00am flight to Chicago.

Photo Credit: Matthew Smith