3 Tips to Embrace the Challenge of Change

Dave Hultin / June 2nd, 2020

I’m not even sure when it happened.

At some point, Fargo, North Dakota, the city in which Marketing Ideas For Printers calls its home, changed from a big little city into a little big city. And that means dealing with big-city challenges, which lately, haven’t been pleasant.

An Upside-Down World

A few nights ago, I watched a live stream video showing violence and destruction in downtown Fargo as visiting insurrectionists used the tension associated with the death of George Floyd to bring their dangerous message to our little big city. I know we’re not the only city wrestling with this kind of violence, and I pray you’re all safe.

Along with this topsy-turvy violence, our society as a whole continues to adapt to the twists and turns of the COVID-19 pandemic. Again, I know we’re not the only city wrestling with coronavirus, and I pray you’re all safe.

So, how do you handle the challenges brought to your doorstep? How are you adapting to lead others well in such tumultuous times?

Here are three things I like to keep in mind.

3 Things to Remember When Embracing the Challenge of Change

1. Perspective is Everything

There’s currently some internet wisdom floating around that offers a good dose of perspective.

“Your terrible job is the dream of every unemployed. Your house is the dream of every homeless. Your smile is the dream of the depressed. Your health is the dream of the ill. Your lifestyle is the dream of somebody else. Don’t let difficult times make you forget your blessings.”

To translate that into printer-speak, suddenly phrases like “paperless offices” and “the death of print” are no longer as big a challenge as they once seemed!

When challenges seem insurmountable, remind yourself to step back and view things in perspective. Gratitude can help you overcome just about anything.

2. Board Up Your Valuables

If you’re watching the news at all, you’re probably used to seeing at-risk businesses board up their storefronts in an effort to protect themselves from the ongoing riots and demonstrations.

While boarding up valuables in their case means protecting their physical storefronts, all of us have valuables that we need to protect at any cost every single day. For example,

• When’s the last time you sat eyeball to eyeball with your team members and allowed the time to dig in deeper with them beyond the standard “How’s it going?”
• Or, when’s the last time you did a thorough audit of your workflow, your profit and loss statement, or the effectiveness of your sales and marketing?
• Lastly, what about boarding up the asset of time with your family? Challenges have a way of sucking up more of our time than anticipated and typically at the expense of our families.

Once perspective has shown you the most important things, protect those things with everything you’ve got.

3. New Every Morning

While my heart may be heavy at the darkness that seems to come through with each new big challenge, I’ve also seen what comes in the morning.

• Volunteers cleaning up the streets
• Businesses coming together to offer help and direction to their buyers and to each other
• The message of hope that continues to live on

So, while my heart is heavy today, there’s a new morning tomorrow. My expectations for the future are filled with excitement!

Together.

Remember, you’re not alone in this, in any of this. We’re here to help, and will walk by your side every step of the way.

We will get through COVID-19.

We will get through riots and destruction.

We will get through this.

Together.