The story begins with a man and a fly.
The man is seated in a quiet hotel room.
Not far away he observes a fly engaged in an epic battle with the windowpane in front of it.
Unable to penetrate the glass, the fly does what it knows best.
It tries harder.
It slams into the obstacle continually.
But gets no closer to its goal–freedom to zip out of the hotel room.
This is a skirmish the fly can’t win.
There is no number of attempts at penetrating the glass that will yield success.
But still, he tries.
He will bet his life on this strategy.
And he will lose.
A few feet away there is an open door.
A minor shift in the fly’s direction would accomplish his goal. He could easily launch into the crisp blue sky.
Moreover, escape through the nearby open door requires an exponentially lower effort than banging its wings against the window.
So why does it keep punishing itself this way?
Why is it so tied to a methodology that doesn’t work?
It should be evident that pushing harder in the same direction will not solve the problem.
We can learn a lot from that fly.
Breakthroughs are not far away.
They are not years or decades down the road.
Sometimes the open doors we seek are just a few feet to the right or left.
The issue is whether we are willing to stop flapping our wings long enough to consider a different approach–something that differs from what we’ve been doing.
Here are a few facts about the open door the fly so desperately needed, but could not (or would not) see:
✅ It was unimpeded.
✅ It was readily available.
✅ It was in close proximity.
✅ It would take less time to go through it.
✅ It required far less effort than the current struggle.
Could this be true for your breakthrough?
What if the answer you seek resides a few feet from where you’re flying?
Wouldn’t it be advisable to stop what you’re currently doing?
Shouldn’t you be open to making an adjustment?
The scenario of the man and the fly is taken from a book called, “You Squared,” by Price Pritchett.
The central thesis of the book is that you cannot achieve a breakthrough or a quantum change in your life by doing things the way you’ve always done them.
If the results you want in life are not showing up, it’s likely because that outcome requires a change in direction.
This does not imply a more complicated approach.
Going back to our fly, the open door was a far simpler, and more elegant alternative.
Sticking with the “work harder at what’s not working” tactic likely ended with the insect’s death on a windowsill.
There are times when working harder is not the right answer.
To achieve a major breakthrough in your life or business, consider doing these five things:
1. Ignore Conventional Methods. Major changes call for more than the ordinary. Ask yourself if your actions can be categorized as extraordinary. You may have to stretch beyond what appears reasonable.
2. Stop Doing What You Do Best. What you do best is not good enough, if what you do best is not working. This may be a billboard pointing to needed changes.
3. Suspend Your Disbelief. When considering a new paradigm, challenge your inner critic. Act as if you have complete faith in the new direction. Do what you would do if you were sure you would succeed.
4. Seek Failure. Achieving breakthroughs requires a willingness to fail. Reframe the way you see failure. See it as a step on your pathway to success. Train yourself to learn from your failures.
5. Make Your Move Before You’re Ready. Breakthroughs require mobility. You must create momentum through movement. You must learn to trust yourself and your ability to figure things out as issues emerge.
Don’t be like our friendly fly, flapping away at a broken strategy.
Be unafraid to change your direction.
Look for the open doors of opportunity.
Take your leap, with trepidation, but more faith.
That’s where your breakthrough lives.
Perhaps business coaching is the quantum leap needed at this stage of your business growth.
Have the same old methodologies and strategies kept you in the same place?
If you’re looking for a breakthrough in your life or business, this may be the place to start. I've placed details on some ways that we can work together below. Let's do it!
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