Successful People - It’s All About Embracing Change

Court reporters are some of the most successful people on the planet.  Why?  Because our profession is in constant change, and we choose to stay up with all of the new technology and change right along with it.  I believe reporters are more familiar with computers, software, working with remote platforms, and the web than almost any profession.  We are uploading and sharing  huge files with scopists, doing constant research on the web for spellings.    I suppose a person is attracted to court reporting because they love challenge and hearing/learning.

I just read a really great article, “How Successful People Become Even More Successful.”  It was written by Marshall Goldsmith with Tuck Executive Education at Dartmouth.

The beginning of the article states, “While most of us can easily see the need to change the behavior of others, we often have great difficulty in changing ourselves! As we become more successful, it seems even harder to change.”

 After reading the article, my mind started thinking, “Hmm.  How does that affect me?  How does that statement relate to my life?”

In 2018 I sold my business that I had run since 1985. My life completely changed. I no longer was in charge of staff, court reporters, clients (attorneys), and vendors. Later in the article Charles Handy states, “the ‘paradox of success’ occurs because we need to change before we have to change. However, when things are going well we often feel no reason to change.”  I have had to read that statement at least five times to start to understand it.  I instinctively know it is a statement of truth and on-point. 

I love it when the universe is aligned and my life is going great.  In such moments I stop and acknowledge the feeling – finally! The last thing I want to think about at that moment is changing and doing things differently.  Yet after reading the quotes above, I’m thinking, when a person is “on top of the world,” that would be the best time to shift and begin some creative thinking for new ideas.   

Action Step:  The next time I am thinking that I have everything figured out, I am going to call one or two of my friends who are in their 30s, 40s, 50s, and ask, ‘What’s new out there?  Do you have any new cool urls or gadgets you’ve found?”  Let’s help each other re-brand to be better than ever.