Letting Go of Control

The biggest deterrent to accomplishing things is not letting go and relinquishing control. It’s hard! I know it is. 

We have a vision and we want that vision to play out exactly as we imagined. 

But think back…does that ever really happen?

I remember looking at apartments when our children were younger in NYC and not wanting all master bedrooms to be on the same side of the apartment as the kids bedroom. I was so focused on this that things like the normal things people look for in apartments or homes like kitchens and bath details, size of bedroom and living space became irrelevant. When I let go of the nitty gritty and realized the bigger goal was simply renting in the neighborhood we wanted to live, things started falling into place.  

In business, I had revenue goals early on that I was not able to reach because I was letting the weeds stand in the way of action. I needed to focus on the vision and let go of how the clients were coming in. I was committed to staying in action which was important, yet I needed to detach from the how. I was focused on what the clients should look like and who I should be talking to specifically and I was missing out on people who wanted to talk to me. The clients and connections ready to come in to work with me. 

Are you too caught in the weeds, staying attached to the how?  

Let go of the attachment to “how I will get there” or “what will happen first, second, third, etc.” and just go for it. In whatever way makes sense, is most effective and is most timely. 

Take your vision and just like you would put it on a board, with pieces of magazine or words or photos, cut that vision into parts and move those parts around when it's not fitting anymore. 

Let’s say you want to take a vacation or a trip. Think about the three things most important to you about that trip. It might be where you want to visit or someone you want to see. If those three things happen, it’s a success! It doesn’t matter that you had to fly a different airline or stay at your second choice hotel. Those are all minor when it comes to the real goal, which was to take the trip. 

In business, your vision can be broken down the same way. If in the next 2 years you want to grow your revenue by X percent, hire six new people and expand into a new building, then start thinking about ways to get to that vision. Many different ways. Because there is never just one path. 

Maybe you will hire via referrals from your network. Or maybe you will meet someone at an event that is a perfect fit. Or maybe you will find the candidate online through a service. 

Maybe that revenue will come in via your networks, maybe it will come from adding another service, maybe it will come from cutting expenses. 

And as for that new building, maybe it ends up being an old house, or not exactly in the location you first imagined or maybe it ends up being two new locations. 

Dream big. Have a flexible vision. Take action.