We are not born with courage. And, we are not born with fear. Both courage and fear are acquired through our business and life experiences. Collaborating with and supporting clients as a personal business coach in The Woodlands and as a personal business coach in Houston we encounter fears that are holding us back, yet we don’t recognize them.
One such fear is indifference. It is certainly okay to be indifferent at times. But, if indifference is dominating your reactions and thought processes it will lead you in a bad direction. Indifference is about a fear of setting priorities or knowing how to set priorities.
You can be indifferent because you don’t think something matters. For example, there is a small error in your business that keeps needing to be corrected. It does not get corrected. Ultimately, it will lead or impact you with a poor result. It is not a question of if, but when.
When you see an error, whether it be in your judgement, how you react or how you do things it does matter. Indifference over time will be deadly to your business growth and personal development. Indifference kills a sense of urgency to improve and will slow or stop your momentum.
Indifference is saying that you can ho-hum your way to success. Or, maybe you can drift your way to the top of the mountain. More often than not, success in business and life comes from purposeful action taken on a timely basis. When you are indifferent it is hard to be timely.
Timeliness is the enemy of indifference. There was a general who had many battlefield successes and also some defeats. He was asked about his military defeats which he did not want to talk about. Yet, his interviewer persisted.
Finally, he said that all military defeats can be explained by two words, “too late.” Too late in anticipating what needs to be done. Too late in coming up with a plan to do what needs to be done. And, too late in executing the plan to get things done.
When you are indifferent, more often than not you will be “too late.” Indifference will take your focus from everything matters to some things matter. To have continued success, realize that everything matters.
What is an error or does not work today will not make for a better tomorrow. Overcome the fear that underlies indifference. Be focused. Be timely. Set priorities, have a sense of urgency and act on them. When you do, indifference will melt away as your purposeful action leads you to success.
Steve Scott is a personal business coach, author and speaker. He has observed that each individual's path to success and happiness is unique, yet, seldom will their ability to create path exceed their personal development goals.