Changing Your Mind is a Superpower

“That’s how we’ve always done it.” I sound off a little alarm every time this thought pops into my head. It’s a warning sign that I’m trying to drive forward despite looking in the rearview mirror. Attachment is innate in all of us. It’s taken years of practice to step back and assess whether a plan is taking us in the right direction. We’ve let go of ideas we thought would be ‘the one’ only to be surprised by success where we least expected it. Each pivot has taught me the importance of being willing to change your perspective and make the best choice for right now. 

The moment we start caring about an idea it becomes interwoven in our ego. The desire to be right can suddenly feel more important than making the right decision. I’ve learned that I have two options: I can be gripped by my attachments and make the wrong choice because it reinforces my opinions. Or, I can walk away from the desire to be right at all costs and seek different perspectives that might help me change my mind. It often comes down to a pretty simple question in business: Would you rather be right into the grave or be wrong and live a little longer? Sign me up for the latter, please! We don’t have to be right all the time, just more often than we’re wrong.

We spent years with the ‘grow at all costs’ mentality until we made the mental shift that our brand is a great lifestyle business. A decade of pursuing one astronomical goal after another forced us to step back and ask what we were really chasing. A unicorn acquisition? Well, that means a unicorn growth trajectory and all the intense expectations that come with it. Sure, those companies get great payouts and you can buy a boat. Is that how we want to live our lives, though? Is it worth the sacrifice of our sanity, stress levels, and time with family? We decided it wasn’t. Personally, I needed to shift my thinking to just enjoy my career and appreciate what we’re building. An acquisition will be great if it happens, but we want it to come from a place of strength rather than growing the company for that sole purpose. I’ve come to understand that success as an entrepreneur is about your experiences and the people you get to work with, not your boat. 

Repetitive patterns play out in our lives and businesses all the time. We keep doing something simply because we always have. In the fashion world, our team used to have to spend the holidays in the office. Of course, this was no longer necessary when technology enabled us to work from anywhere. I still got pushback when I wanted my team to spend the holidays at home, though. I think we can all agree that it’s time to retire the dreaded - People struggled when I was coming up! - approach. It’s not the 90s anymore. People can be with their families and log onto their handy laptop when needed. 

There is no ‘right way’ to do things, especially today. I’m always trying to pull apart my decisions and ask: Does this still make sense? It’s okay if it doesn’t. What works for my peers might not work for me. There are no rules. My only one is that I try not to hold onto things for no good reason (boats included). 

Adaptability is a mindset that we’re always developing. I clung to ideas for years until I finally realized that no matter how hard I tried they weren’t working. Being a couture designer celebrated for her evening gowns? Turns out, women don’t wear sparkly gowns all that often. Selling super expensive handbags that no one buys? Missed the mark on that one. I’ve had enough of these disappointments where I finally said: Why bother? The customer who embraced me and got me to where I am wants something different. Let me celebrate that and give her what she wants. 

Our first plan not working doesn’t make us a failure. I’ve rarely met anyone whose business looks exactly how they pictured it; Far from it. Look at Instagram. They could have said: Well, our initial prototype was for location check-ins, photos, and making plans. Imagine if they held onto idea #1 and said: No OOTDs, no selfies, no acai bowls, not allowed. There are more than 436,000,000 #selfies on Instagram. I’d venture to say they made the right choice. 

There’s pressure to always be right and know the path forward as a leader. I hope this year finally revealed that there’s no GPS in business or in life. Things are messy. Mistakes are made and course-correcting is part of the process. I’m the first one to raise my hand and say: Hey everybody, I made a mistake. I’m sorry. There’s no shame in being honest and vulnerable. I’ve found it actually takes the shame out of it. You earn a lot more respect from owning your mistakes rather than avoiding them. 

I used to wish I had a crystal ball to see the future of my business. I know now that my fairy godmother isn’t lost. She’s just not coming to bring it to me. I’m good with that. I’ve learned that embracing where my path is taking me leads to better places than I imagined. 

What have been your most meaningful pivots? Let me know in the comments!