Re-Ignite Your Joy

Let’s face it, most folks have experienced some very tough times in their business and in their life over the last couple of months.

Many have come face to face with some great loss – loss of sales, loss of income and loss of strategies that worked for years, even decades.

Great loss creates grief and most people experience grief in 7 different stages:

  1. Shock – Initial paralysis at hearing the bad news
  2. Denial – Trying to avoid the inevitable
  3. Anger – Frustrated outpouring of bottled-up emotions
  4. Bargaining – Seeking in vain for a way out
  5. Depression – Final realization of the inevitable
  6. Testing – Seeking realistic solutions
  7. Acceptance – Finally finding your way forward

My guess is that many of you experienced some of the above stages of grief. It’s ok. It’s natural.

Let me strongly encourage you to not get stuck in stages 1 – 5. The fact is that whatever was “normal” for you in your business is likely not going to return any time soon, if ever. The key to dealing with the stages of grief is to NOT GET STUCK. No matter where you are in dealing with your grief, it’s time to get to stages 6 and 7.

It’s time to test realistic solutions that work for you.

It’s time to find your way forward.

Going back is not an option. Staying stuck is not a solution. 

It is only in moving forward that you will once again find your way. Renew your passion. Re-ignite your joy.

AboutGreg Muzzillo, Founder of Proforma

Greg Muzzillo started Proforma as an industry distributor in 1978. The company grew quickly and in the early 1980s Proforma was recognized for three consecutive years on Inc. magazine’s list of the 500 fastest growing companies in North America. In the late 1980’s Proforma introduced its membership program to enable distributors to retain their business ownership and independence, and to share in sales and marketing resources, purchasing power with industry suppliers, one back office including all billing, accounting, vendor payments, cash flow, computer systems and more. Today Proforma has more than 750 members with over $500 million in sales. Proforma has over 100 members in its Million Dollar Club and more than 40 members in its Multi-Million Dollar Club (With sales ranging from $2 million to over $26 million). In 2014, eight Proforma members were named to Inc. magazine’s Inc. 5000 List of the 5000 Fastest Growing Companies.

One comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *