by Dr. Ed Brenegar | Feb 23, 2021 | Book, Circle of Impact, Impact, Relationships, Transition
It was never my intention to become an expert on change. Yet at each transition point in my life, I discovered something about myself that made the experience of change beneficial. Even in situations of change that followed failure or loss, I found that change was like living in a large house. It comes to us when we cross a threshold to enter a new room. The house is our whole life. Each room represents a part of the life that we have lived. All the rooms are our rooms, even when they seem different from one another.
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I know many of you have experienced similar difficult changes in life. You look back with regret, sorrow, and feelings of guilt. You may feel that life dealt you an unwinnable hand. Anger and bitterness have become a constant presence because the life you desired has not happened. The old saying that misery loves company we find not to be true.
by Dr. Ed Brenegar | Oct 6, 2020 | Book, Circle of Impact, Ideas, Impact, Relationships, Structure, Transition
In September 2018, after Circle of Impact was published, I hit the road to promote sales of the book. I spent the next year talking to people standing in bookstores, sitting at bars, in laundromats, parking lots, and hotel lobbies. These conversations went something like this.
“Oh, so you are the author of this book?”
“Yes.”
“What’s your book about?”
“It is a book for people and organizations that are in transition.”
Then they would give me a surprised look and say, “Oh. … Well. … That describes me.”
Then a conversation would happen where they would tell me a story about who they are, their life experience, and why they felt they were in transition.
I found that people first feel that they are in transition. But they lack a way to talk about it. This feeling rises deep from within themselves. This is especially true if they have either worked in an environment described above where they are simply hired to perform specific tasks or have been out of the workforce for a while taking care of family needs, whether children or elderly parents.
Of all the ways that I could describe the book, speaking about transition resonated most significantly with people. This isn’t just personal. It is also something happening to our society, our communities, and every organization within it. It is a global reality felt at the most intimate level of our lives. It is also clear that some people are better suited or prepared to make transitions in their lives, while for others it is a very tough, hard experience.
by Dr. Ed Brenegar | May 7, 2020 | Book, Circle of Impact, Uncategorized
It is important to know what you have to offer, as I wrote about previously. However, that is not everything you need to know. At best, it is 30-40% of what you need to know.
Too many times I’ve met with someone who is trying to sell me their services, and all they tell me is what they are selling. The only offer is for me to give them my money.
Every day people connect with me online to sell me services. They is no indication of the impact that they aim to create for me. In one of those conversations, I asked one guy how he would market to people and businesses in transition. He was honest. He had no idea. He said that his firms markets to the titles in an organization.
To fully understand what you have to offer, you need to be aware of three areas that are important.
by Dr. Ed Brenegar | May 5, 2020 | Book, Circle of Impact
We need to understand, “What do I have to offer to the world?”
Say that to yourself.
What do I have to offer the world?
Say it out loud if you want, emphasizing the “doing” of the offer.
What do I have to offer the world?
Write the sentence down. Look at it again.
Open up your hands palms up. Extend them out in front of you as if you are giving something to someone. In your hands is what you have to offer. It is the gift that you give to people, organizations, and places that makes a difference that matters.
Now imagine that every day you climb out of bed to offer the world all the unrealized potential that rests in your hands right now.
We are now beginning to see that our unrealized potential is not some abstract value, but something real that we have to offer. Something tangible that can make a real difference in the world. We are recognizing that we have within ourselves is a capacity for making a difference that maybe we’ve never thought about before.
In your hands is the power to bring change that creates goodness wherever you are, even at work, even in the midst of a global pandemic.
To learn what we have to offer is a process of self-discovery. We realize all we have been storing away, out of sight, out of mind, down deep in inside all these years. It is all we’ve learned, gained, and developed in the way of knowledge and experience throughout our lifetime.
by Dr. Ed Brenegar | Apr 27, 2020 | Book, Circle of Impact, Ideas, Transition
“It is vitally important that we understand what change is. It is the living, dynamic context of our lives. Every thought, every emotion, every action, every response in a particular moment operates within a change context. Every movement, shift in perspective, or initiative taken happens within the context of change. …
I call it the speed of change.
