I recently introduced you to the notion that the ways things are is the way things are going to be.  The New Normal is what we've got and there is no reason to believe or evidence to support the idea that we're ever going back to the ways things used to be.

Far from being scary, this news might bring relief. 

No longer are you burdened by the expectations of the past. 

No longer are you encumbered by doing things the way you've always done them. 

The New Normal isn't the Garden of Eden. - fresh and new and ready to be explored.  But, it is an opportunity for those who are eager to separate themselves from the pack.

Another sales manager and I were discussing the performance of a seller the other day and he remarked,

"She just doesn't get it."

"Which part doesn't she get", I asked.

"We've been talking about her performance and the work she needs to do to survive and she says to me - 'I'm not going to be able to hit your goals'."

"Ah, the goals you established for her as a minimum expectation are now "your goals" instead of hers?"

"Right!"

This particular seller is still operating under The Ways Things Used to Be.  The New Normal demands that sellers establish goals for themselves that exceed the minimum expectations of their employer and then seek the assistance of everyone in their network to achieve those goals.

The New Normal is about accepting responsibility for your performance and holding yourself accountable for your behaviors.

The New Normal is a forest fire in which the underbrush, gathered over decades, fuels a blaze that takes down 100-year old trees.  

Operating successfully in this environment requires you to follow these steps:

1) Accept that conditions may never get better than they are right now.  For those in traditional media sales, it's easy to see that we aren't going back to 1999 levels.  What may not be as easy to see is that we may not be going back to 2007 levels.  For those in new media, the most rapid growth is over.  Growth will still be a part of the equation but it's incremental instead of exponential.  What about your business?

2) Make a commitment.  You don't have to stay in the business.  But if you do, you need to make a commitment.  Half-hearted efforts will guarantee failure.

3) Have a plan.  Long term plans that establish your goals over the next year or two or five are all fine and good.  What you really need, though, is a ninety-day plan.  Short bursts of activity are easier to commit to, easier to measure and easier to chuck out the window if the New Normal requires such a move.

4) Accept responsibility for your success.  The New Normal doesn't cotton to people standing around jawing about its challenges.  Conditions are this and the environment is that and it is what it is but none of that makes a difference once you've decided you intend to be successful regardless.  The New Normal doesn't choose.  You choose to be successful or not and the New Normal is just your playing field.

5) Be a part of other people's solutions.  There has never been a time when networking has been as easy as it is right now.  A friend of mine initiated a Skype chat the other day to announce something he was doing.  Some of those invited to the chat were confused when they noticed the Skype window on their screens.  They couldn't figure out why they were part of a chat in which they didn't know the other participants.  My friend had left the chat so he wasn't around to explain when people started writing to each other about the meaning of the chat.  As I watched the messages fly back and forth across the world, I saw two chatters discover that they were admirers of each other's work.  Just like at a cocktail party or networking event, these two struck up a conversation and agreed to get back together via direct e-mail.  They met in a virtual world by accident!  Absolutely amazing and a part of the New Normal.  You'll need other people to help you succeed in the New Normal.  The best way to ensure that is to be a part of their solution.

 What are you doing to thrive in the New Normal?