Starting Over vs New Goals

Good morning from the sunny shores of Lake Tim. Well, it’s not really my lake, but I sometimes feel like it is. It’s that time of year where I have pushed the boat into the water, and taken it around the lake a time or two. This week I wanted to work on this idea of starting over. It was the original concept I had when first thinking of any writing or coaching back in late 2005, when the original concept for my coaching business got started.

My boat is an old flat bottom aluminum boat. I spent a few hundred dollars on this boat and it’s not pretty, but for our lake and how often we go out on it, the boat seems to be a good deal. When I put it into the water to ride around the lake the last time, it seemed to have a small leak in it. It’s common to have the plug on these boats leak after some time. My boat needs some other work done as well. The wood, the seats and other things that have been added to keep the boat useable need to be redone. So I’m looking at it thinking I could replace a few parts and pieces, or start over with another boat. I’m wondering what to do. That brought me to the idea this week of deciding when do we start over, and when do we just change our goals, alter our plan and keep going?

So here are my ideas. When not to start over:

In the case of this boat, I could buy another boat just like it for around $1200 to $1500 brand new, or I could buy about $100 worth of new wood and other supplies to reseal and rebuild parts of the boat and get another three years out of it. The fact that I will spend maybe 10 to 20 hours on it over the rest of this year makes this option a good investment. It’s still not worth it to start over yet, just change a few things and keep this ship afloat. (I just had to use that term talking about a boat.)

Now let’s say you own a small business that’s struggling and you’re wondering what to do. You have about 50 clients, and a good lead box of say other 20 or so clients. You would not give up and start over. You would come up with a plan to make this thing keep rolling if you had a large client list like that, even if you had low profits. You then hire a consultant, or have your business checked out to see if you are doing things right. Maybe you find a few ways to cut expenses, and become more profitable. The key here is you have a forward-moving company with a list of clients bringing in a profit. Instead of starting over, you would check goals to get yourself back on track.

Now, if you are in a situation like this and it would cost you more money to give them the product or service they need than the market will allow you to charge for it product this is the time you must really see how you could start over.

I think of how some people have a money situation where they have so much debt that they cannot pay all the bills on their current income. You look to see if you could reduce the debt, or find places or ways to bring in more income before you just run to a lawyer. This is the “never give up” area that you must keep hope in.

When it is time to Start Over:

I’ve had two personal experiences when it was time to start over, after the loss of a spouse. Whether your spouse has left by a divorce or has passed away from this earth, these are the times when you must sit down and find a way to start over. You cannot avoid this. Your life is now changed and it must take on a new form. These are areas where you have no choice. The choice was made for you.

In another experience, 10 years ago my friend Pat’s business partner walked into his office and presented him with a buyout offer. Due to their contract agreement he had to accept it or counter offer to buy him out. This also was a choice not made by him. He had to make one choice or another. But it was prompted by someone else. Now he had to make the choice how do I start over because his business was never going to be the same. He was either going to be doing it alone (after having bought out his partner) or would be out of it himself.

Another example is if your business or personal life has failed. You have made choices that are past the point of repair and you must start with a clean slate in life. Either you cannot get the money to afford your lifestyle and must start over, or your business is no longer viable for whatever reason – maybe because it doesn’t offer a service that is needed any longer or it hasn’t changed with the times. Think back to all those businesses that made parts for 8-track tape players, or even just a few short years ago the 3.5 floppy disk for a computer. Those products are out of date.  If you did not find a new product to make before the product became obsolete then your business has probably become irrelevant and you must start over.

So today we looked at when do we start over, and when do we just re-formulate our plan. I hope you can compare your situation to help you choose what to do with what you are facing.

If you need help in just making a few adjustments, maybe it’s time to hire a consultant who helps with viewing where you are and getting a plan to take you to where you want to go. Contact us because we have a list of those who can help with your situation.

Until next time I’m Tim Gillette, the Rocker Life Coach. It’s time for you to Live the life you always wanted, Love what you do and who you spend your life with. Let us help you become the RockStar in your world.