The members of the Remodelers Advantage Roundtable group generally have developed a high level of trust with one another. The outcome of this is that the members are more open with one another than they might ever be with anyone else.
At a recent meeting a member was talking about being stuck; being held back by his fear of the unknown. What would it be like to make changes to his business that he had heard his wife suggest to him for years? How could he get past his fears?
I told the story below to let him know that we all have faced similar struggles and that we can overcome them.
Early in my career I was invited to join Artistic License, a guild of artisans and craftspeople involved in the Victorian revival in San Francisco. This was sometime in the early to mid-1980s (I know; some of you were not born yet). It was quite a prestigious group, and we would have been the only general contractor among the architects, fine painters, a wall paper manufacturer, and on and on, for a total of about 20 members.
I declined because, to be able to join, I would have had to give a presentation to the other members and to the general public about the work we did. I was so shy that I couldn’t even conceive of standing in front of an audience, even one filled with my peers and friends.
After a few days, I decided that I was being controlled by my fear. I did not want to die without having joined this group. So I did my best to prepare, and I gave the presentation — sweating a lot. People liked it!
And the rest is history.
You are too smart to get in your own way.
Just try doing what you think might make sense even if the prospect of doing so fills you with dread. You will never know if you never try.
Remember, the trouble is: you think you have time. —Paul Winans, a veteran remodeler, now works as a facilitator for Remodelers Advantage, and as a consultant to remodeling business owners. Contact him at [email protected].
