I started TLC because I needed a transformation. I was bored with my job. It wasn’t inspiring me, left me feeling empty. I wanted to do something that would feed my entrepreneurial spirit and my desire to help people. TLC gave me both.
But I’d be the first to tell you that starting the transformation from assembly line worker to health and wellness CVO was scary. (I was the first to tell you, in fact, in my book, Believe in More.) My wonderful wife will tell you it was scary, too, leaving the relative security of a job at the Big Three to start a company on my own.
We’re so focused on positive transformation that TLC even sponsors a contest based on our customers’ transformation efforts. If you’d like to learn more, you can visit our Transformation Contest web page.
Before I really attacked my transformation from line worker to CEO, I took some steps that I think are important enough to share with you.
Step One: Decide the Transformation is Necessary
I didn’t just dive into TLC willy-nilly. I thought about it for a long time. In the end, I came to the conclusion that I had to make a change for my own well-being.
Many 12-Step Programs talk about the situations that lead people to seek out the program, and it basically comes down to the fact that the person had no other choice. They needed that change. Their own enlightened self-interest was pointing them in that direction.
The best transformations are the ones that must happen. That doesn’t mean they’re easy, but it does mean the pay-off is all the more extraordinary.
Step Two: Establish a Support Network
It’s hard to make a big transformation on your own, so before taking the plunge, line up some trusted folks who will back your play. I know a guy who decided to stop drinking sugary soda, so in order to keep himself accountable, he told all his community college students about his decision to make that dietary transformation. It helped to keep him accountable to the steps he was taking.
And we need to be honest here: sometimes our support network is a collection of financial resources. Take the time to reflect on the cost of your transformation—monetary and emotional—and get all the necessary ducks in a row. I know I had to.
Step Three: Decide on Realistic Goals
Having decided we need a transformation and establishing our support network, the fun begins. What will your transformation look like? Feel like? Sound like? How can you talk about it to someone else?
Most importantly, we must decide on realistic goals for our transformation. I like many smaller goals instead of one big goal. Five pounds before fifty. Five sales before a hundred. Enrolling in school and choosing that first class before worrying about graduation.
It helps to articulate these goals. Share them with your support network. Write them down. Make a song about them! Whatever it takes to help speak them into being.
Step Four: Go for It!
I mean, really: What’s stopping you?
American speaker, author, and pastor John C. Maxwell has said that “Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.” We can never hope to prevent change, but we can direct that change into something positive.
Many times, it’s just about being brave. I’ll leave you with this link to a song by folk singer Richard Shindell. “So Says the Whippoorwill” is about setting aside the fear of change and being brave enough to live the life we deserve. It’s soft and pretty, and I think you’ll like it.
Until next time.
Jack
