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| Subject: Superstition ain't the way unless you want more problems | |
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Author: Dennis S. Vogel |
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Date Posted: 23:47:40 09/30/12 Sun This is more than another exhortation to relax, live longer (quantity) & have a better quality life while living longer. I'm using human stress as an analogy (plus a bit of a biology lesson) to urge business owners to use business defense mechanisms only when & only as long as is necessary. Some of what I wrote below are lessons I learned the hard way. Please learn these lessons the easy way (without personally experiencing them). Stress caused by business problems can aggravate major & minor health problems. Whether it's because of trying the wrong "solution" or doing nothing about them, not solving or mitigating business or personal problems, results in a vicious, downward spiral. Each problem compromises your ability to cope in the future. What doesn't kill us makes things unnecessarily harder without helping us at all. I'm not claiming you'll eliminate every trouble & have a perfect life. Trying to have a perfect life (whatever that means) is apt to be frustrating or worse. A defense mechanism may be functional when it's needed. Any defense mechanism is apt to be dysfunctional when it isn't needed. Example: Using an antibiotic for a limited time can be functional to end a bacterial infection. Using an antibiotic after an infection is gone or continuing to use an antibiotic that isn't effective is dysfunctional. Antibiotics are often effective against a few bacteria strains instead of all bacteria. Using an antibiotic for years to prevent infections can cause more problems than it prevents. Knowing a problem & the source (when possible) can make recovery easier. It's why diagnosis is critical & why health situations should be monitored. Relapses, complications & other problems can bring us &/or our businesses down again. A defense mechanism is harmful when it's an overreaction &/or used when it isn't needed anymore. However logical it may've been when it began, a defense mechanism that started as a way to solve or mitigate a problem becomes a problem which may require another defense mechanism to control it. I won't use a lot of technical medical terms because in a situation like this, esoteric medical scientific terminology is contraindicated (oops). This basic explanation may help you understand other people (You're so cool - you're never stressed, right?) I'm providing some options for some retailers to use sometimes to get some sales. I've written more issues below than I've provided possible solutions. It's hard to diagnose & cure seemingly similar issues in different circumstances without enough specific information. What are your experiences? How would you solve, mitigate or avoid these issues or other issues I didn't include? Let's work together so we all benefit. You could benefit from somebody else's advice, but is it realistic for you to expect others to contribute if you don't? If you're shy about using the process of posting something, please send your questions &/or advice to me via email with my address - thrivingbusiness@email.com I've posted things for others, I can post things for you. Change - Deal With It The Right Way For A Change It's hard for some people to believe & understand that achieving something good can lead to more stress instead of just bringing relief. Achievements & disappointments are results that change our lives. Dealing with any change means you should be making adjustments. When one aspect of life changes faster than others, it can feel like mental friction from different aspects of life "rubbing" together or colliding. Yet, if every aspect of life changes simultaneously, it can feel shocking. Changes (good/positive or bad/negative) disrupt homeostasis. Homeostasis is like a gyroscope or autopilot that tries to keep us on a steady course at a steady speed. Any steady course (comfort zone) can be safe until anything ahead changes. Consciously &/or subconsciously, changing directions feels risky (some level of threat or danger), even when we perceive a need for change. We may wonder, Is the necessary change in proportion to the threat? Does the "cure" seem worse than "disease"? Example - Chemotherapy may sicken somebody worse than cancer, in the short-term. Untreated cancer is apt to be worse in the long-term. Do you understand why some consumers are more hesitant to buy than others? To some, a purchase may be part of their steady course. To others, purchasing anything can mean a small or big change. They may wonder - 1) if they should buy what they want or what they need; 2) is it better to wait & save their money in case a better opportunity or a worse problem comes up? Problems May Outnumber Resources Resources invested to solve one problem may be depleted & not available to solve a different problem at the same time or in the future. How likely are we know accurately if we may need those resources in the future? Yet, if we don't solve a current problem because we think we may need the resources for a worse problem in the future, that current problem could metastasize (negatively affect what's currently good in your business). We usually need to make changes (internally) to proactively prepare for & respond to external changes. Being proactive involves determining the following factors (among others): 1) what's changing; 2) which external changes are most important; 3) which external changes are apt to detrimental & possibly irremediable; 4) which external changes are imminent & how soon negative effects may start; 5) how long negative effects may last; 6) which changes (causes & effects) are we most ready for so we can devote more resources to other potential threats? The Tide Is High & So Is The Damage Negative effects may build & spread like a flood. As water moves along in a flooded river, the water level rises until it crests. In time after the crest, flood waters recede. Until a crest passes, assessing damage & planning repairs is hard. As a flood crests, damage may increase. If we know what the negative effects are apt to be, we may be able to determine when the effects start to wane. Knowing that can be valuable as we decide which external changes happened, which of those may be short-term, long-term or permanent. We can prioritize our actions based on which resources we have or can get. We can determine when we should perform some tasks (make some changes). After a flood, trying to rebuild on/in fluid mud may be a wasted effort. Damp mud (as opposed to saturated mud) may be more reliable than dry, cracked ground. We need to know what to expect from our environment & work in that environment as much as we can instead trying to work against it. Working on that environment (like working on a business instead of just in it) can be effective when we work with our situation instead of always fighting it. Why Is YOUR Change For The Better Always Worse For ME? If we change too much or too often (personally &/or professionally) we may hurt ourselves, like executives hurt businesses & politicians (elected officials) hurt governments & citizens. Changing just for the sake of changing wastes most or all resources invested to solve a problem, plus arbitrary changes are problems & cause more problems. Would those leaders admit their changes are arbitrary? (Not likely) They spend time, energy & (other people's) money criticizing each other for bad decisions, then throw a business or government off track. Often the worst decisions are those that stop all progress (if any) made by previous leaders. When Normal Situations Are Really Abnormal Too often defense mechanisms become people's usual (but abnormal) state. In effect then, people need defense mechanisms to save themselves from their chronic defense mechanisms. It seems screwy, but it isn't a joke. It can be worse than needing a medication to offset side effects of a desperately needed medicine. Drugs used to reduce anxiety have side effects & adverse reactions that cause & aggravate other problems. Then people feel more tense because of those additional problems. Most drugs only affect symptoms, not problems that cause symptoms. You may feel better without necessarily being healthier. Chiropractic care is often more direct & can help patients avoid aggravating problems. Yet, if patients keep doing what hurts them, chiropractic care will only reduce symptoms temporarily. This is analogous to using discounts to clear out merchandise & bring in money. If you want to establish & maintain price credibility, discounts should be rare. Reducing prices may be a symptom of any of the following problems - 1) setting prices too high; 2) "training" people to wait for discounts; 3) trying to sell to the wrong niche; 4) lack of compelling sales copy. Cut Back On The Cutting Back When a recession hits, cutting all expenses may seem like a good idea. It's possible to save money by turning lights on only when a customer enters a store. Yet, a dark store seems to be closed instead of open for business, so people pass by. Cutting marketing investments to save money is somewhat like blood letting. Blood letting was used hundreds of years ago as a way to "restore" good health. It was supposed to be used to purge a body of bad blood (HUH!). How would anybody discern the difference between "bad" blood & good blood. It was all superstition. Apparently, some "patients" recovered despite that malpractice (of course, many didn't). Fools believed recovery meant blood letting "worked". Sure, some patients died. ("Obviously" according to the fools) When patients died, they were too sick to be cured. Stevie Wonder expressed it well in "Superstition": "If you believe in things that you don't understand, then you suffer. Superstition ain't the way." A big problem is when people don't admit or realize what they believe is a superstition. When they believe something strongly, they think they understand it. Chronic worrying is all superstition also. Chronic worriers get stressed as if their stress level prevent anything bad. It's like a "successful" watch dog. A dog senses an intruder is near. A dog barks to keep the "intruder" away & it works almost every time, right? Wrong! Mostly, dogs bark at people who had no intention of entering the area the dogs occupy. Knowing the difference between coincidence, correlation & causation is vital. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/coincidence http://www.thefreedictionary.com/correlation http://www.thefreedictionary.com/causation When somebody relies on a result (effect) happening without knowing the cause, s/he may lose money, confidence & credibility. It's no coincidence. Dennis S. Vogel Your success depends on learning what works in your specific situation. Please use this link to get free information. http://www.lakefield.net/~thrivingbusiness/ [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |
| Subject | Author | Date |
| Re: Superstition ain't the way unless you want more problems | Faith | 23:24:35 10/26/12 Fri |
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| Re: Superstition ain't the way unless you want more problems | What IS the way? | 21:22:38 11/17/12 Sat |
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| Re: Superstition ain't the way unless you want more problems | Do what works | 21:21:28 11/18/12 Sun |
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| Re: Superstition ain't the way unless you want more problems | Make it fun | 16:22:11 11/19/12 Mon |
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