21 Oct Ch-Ch-Changes

The leaves are turning. The days are shortening. The temperatures are dropping. Everything is changing. In fact, within the last 6 months, I’ve changed my address, my i-Pod and my marital status. If I had only moved our offices, it would have been a total change.

While I wouldn’t recommend making that many changes at once, I believe change is almost always good. It shakes you up and makes you see things from a different perspective.

For example, right now, I’m sitting on my large front porch watching horses dance across the pasture. A few months ago, I sat on a small front stoop watching an old lady pull weeds at the house across the street.

Earlier this year, a friend of mine moved across the country to realize her dream of living out west. Six months and one unfulfilling job later, she returned with a whole new appreciation for all things Southeastern. (Friendly folks, sweet tea and free refills – to name a few.)

Change is, ironically, the one constant in life. It’s inevitable. So you can embrace it or you can live in fear of it.

When I was growing up my father transferred from state to state with his job so I learned how to adapt at an early age. I changed schools, changed friends and changed. Period.

I learned that if you start a new school at the beginning of the year, you will go unnoticed. (It’s much better to be the NEW KID who comes in mid-year. Instant popularity.) I also learned that, if you’re too quiet, you will be ignored. So I, who was so shy I wouldn’t raise my hand in class, forced myself to become more outgoing. The biggest thing I learned about change, however, was that you have to ride it out because things will change again.

Since I’ve been in the advertising industry, technology has changed everything. Personal computers have made deadlines shorter, pressure higher and clients more demanding. The web has made learning almost instantaneous and ad tracking a virtual science. And cell phones and instant messaging, for good or for bad, have made us infinitely more accessible. As technology continues to evolve, it will further change the way we live and work.

We can change or be changed. It’s up to us.

Three years ago, I left my former place of employment to start WilsonMcGuire Creative, I didn’t know if the change would be good or bad. I just knew that even a bad change would beat the changes that were occurring there. So I jumped – and, amazingly, the net appeared. It worked out for the better (knock on wood).

As we begin our new fiscal year this week, we do it with the knowledge that changes are inevitable. And we aim to make them changes for the better.