When he was a young boy, my grandfather lost his right arm at the shoulder after falling off the tram he was travelling on and rolling underneath its wheels. His life changed dramatically from that point on.
Suddenly he was faced with the prospect of the many things he could no longer do. He was forced to ask himself “where to from here?” But he played the cards he’d been dealt and set about living his life as best he could. It began with adapting and learning to use his left arm. For eating he had a special fork fashioned with a cutting edge on one of the tines. He learnt to tie his shoelaces using one hand. He enjoyed hunting with a shotgun and in retirement remained active as a timekeeper at the local swimming galas. In other words, he focused on what he could control and not the aspects he couldn’t.
Change is everywhere
Optometry practices (and businesses in general) are no different as there are constant changes within and outside the sector impacting your practice and effort should be focused on the aspects you can control. Some changes may be significant, are obvious and could happen rapidly (for example, the entrance of a corporate group into the market), while others are less dramatic and occur over a longer period. The latter can be more dangerous - by the time you recognise change is occurring, it can be late in the game and responding to this change can have become more difficult and prohibitively expensive. The challenge is to be aware of the changes as they happen, or before they happen, and adapt to them or adopt them to ensure your business’s success.
Too busy to see
