When’s the last time you left your comfort zone? If you want to achieve something great, do something extraordinary, or be a catalyst for good, we can’t sit back and wait for things to happen under the status quo. If we never push ourselves, we’ll never achieve something great.
I recently saw a webcast about about Whitney Johnson who wrote a book about “disrupting yourself.” Whitney moved to New York as a music major graduate with her husband who was going to Columbia University for grad school.
Since she was in NY, she wanted to work on Wall Street – she started as a secretary and in 15 years made the giant leap to #1 Equity Analyst at Merrill Lynch. She said the key to following your heart to achieve life goals is to disrupt yourself – meaning, take some steps in the dark, get feedback, adjust, and keep moving.
Specifically, she says 1. Target a need that you can meet more effectively than others, 2. Identify your unique strengths that will help fill that need, 3. Be willing to take a step sideways or backwards to get there (kind of like a slingshot effect), and 4. Let your strategy emerge – have patience to let the stars line up as you keep experimenting and pivoting.
She said don’t be surprised if the end result is different than you expected – “research has shown that 70% of successful new businesses end up with a business strategy different than the one they initially pursued.”
When you get 37 minutes, take a look at her keynote speech and interview – I was inspired.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td8MvK1Dy_0&feature=youtu.be
Disrupt Yourself
