Are You Open-Minded in Your Business?

Jul 19

I’ve been riding my Peloton bike a lot lately, and one of my favorite instructors, Denis Morton, often says, “I make suggestions. You make decisions.”

It got me thinking about what that means in my life off of the bike. Am I open to receiving suggestions? Am I open to different options and angles? Am I open to what’s available to me with the freedom and confidence that I then get to decide what to do with it all?

It also made me think about when I coach and consult with small business owners. Over the years, I’ve seen people are often quick to shut down new ideas (funny enough, even if this is what they’re paying me to do for them).

When someone shares a different angle or idea, do you quickly write it off? Is your immediate response to a suggestion, “Oh, I already tried that, and it didn’t work. Why would I try it again?” Or do you think, “If it was going to work, I would have already thought of it”?

The problem with this is that if you aren’t open-minded, you won’t see new opportunities, and you won’t be able to take advantage of those opportunities.

Maybe you did try it before, but maybe you were a couple of clicks off. Maybe it wasn’t to quality. Maybe you didn’t run it long enough. Maybe the market wasn’t ready for it at the time. Maybe you didn’t have the knowledge you have now. Maybe you didn’t have the people surrounding you that you do now to help you integrate it and make it that much better.

My challenge and invitation to you today is this:

What if you gave yourself the freedom to fully consider a suggestion?

Hear it out. Take it in as a valid possibility. Try it and test it. What if you gave yourself permission to be open-minded instead of letting your previous self shut it down?

Iterate on a suggestion. Be open to it. You may have tried something before, and it failed. But things are always changing. There’s a different set of facts now.

Give it a go and see what opportunities and possibilities unfold for you and your business.

Maybe it helps to think of yourself at sea. The tides, wind, and waves are always changing. Be like a sailboat and be willing to change the direction of your sail when the wind changes.

It would sound a bit dumb to say you already had the sail the other direction before and it didn’t work so you aren’t going to maneuver it that way again when the wind changes direction.