Do you stay on the right?

I was talking about sidewalk traffic with a native New Yorker the other day…because it can be a little crazy at times. People weave all over the sidewalk and it sometimes seems as if there’s absolutely no order AT ALL! What’s up with walking on the right and passing on the left?

Some people are looking at the sights, trying to navigate their way around or just searching out a place to eat….

Others are texting or talking and in their own little world.

What fascinated me is that my friend admitted he didn’t know, until he was 44 years old, that in most US cities people walk on the right side of the sidewalk. So in his case, he didn’t even know the “rules” for pedestrians.

So it makes me think of us, as entrepreneurs.  Some of us have our heads down, focused on on thing and totally missing out on what’s going on around us.

Others have our antennaes up… on the lookout for the new opportunities.

And others… who just don’t know “the rules”… but have made it this far… maybe inconveniencing others along the way at times… but not intending to do harm.

I’m not suggesting any one of those is good or bad… I just think they’re phases we cycle through at various stages of our business.

  • Keep your head down too long and you miss opportunities.
  • Keep looking at the tall buildings and miss what’s going on right in front of your face.
  • Break the rules and shake things up whether you’re aware of it or not.

I know that I always have a little of the “don’t know the rules” thing going on… which is good.  That’s how ‘treps blaze new trails for others.

I just got through the “tall building” phase with a lot of people approaching me about joint projects and trying to figure out how that fits into my own Biztruth activities… and now it’s time to spend more time “heads down” to focus, follow through and deliver.

What phase are you in in your business right now?

Posted In: Thought Leadership