218 – August 6
“If no one ever took risks, Michelangelo would have painted on the Sistine floor.”—Neil Simon
Joel Barker produced and narrated a wonderful video entitled The Business of Paradigms.
It is an examination of how business and the marketplace responds to new ideas and new inventions that radically change the way things are. He demonstrates how our natural tendency is to cling to the old paradigm, the old pattern or habit rather than embrace the new, seemingly radical idea. Businesses that have been built and made a success out of an old idea are reluctant to accept a new idea that will fundamentally change the way they do business. Change must come from the outside.
For example, when the man who invented the copier machine decided to sell his idea, he went first to Kodak. The copier process was a kind of photographic process, so it seemed logical to take it to the preeminent company specializing in cameras and film. They turned him down. They didn’t see how the application of this new technology would change business forever and spawn a new generation of technological office machines. So then he went to Xerox. That’s why we Xerox reports instead of Kodaking them.
What is the current paradigm of your business? Of your life? Can you think of a new idea that might radically change what you do or how you do it? If nothing comes to mind, you may be too firmly rooted in the old paradigm, too weighed down by habit, to think of change. The known seems so safe. But great products, great services, and great wealth come from new ideas that provide greater benefits. A friend of mine kept a poster in his office that read “How can I improve this?” He searched constantly for new ideas to improve the quality of his products and services so that he could better serve his customer, and thereby, better serve himself.
The more people you serve, and the better you serve them, the more money you make.
Today’s Affirmation:
“All my affirmations happen in the perfect way for the highest good of all concerned.”
Here’s a paradigm I’d like changed:
If you’re anxious, you’re living in the future.
If you’re depressed, you’re living in the past.
This really resonates with me. It’s true isn’t it? If you look at your financial situation and you’re anxious, it’s because you are imagining a future with not enough money attached to it. If you’re depressed about your money, you’re looking backward at all the circumstances that let you to a present that doesn’t have as much financial security as you would like.
But what about the present? Do you have enough money to get through today? Do you have enough to eat today? Do you have a place to sleep today?
Why not live in joy this present moment where you have enough?
