There’s an episode of Seinfeld where George Costanza comes to the conclusion that everything he does is WRONG, and that’s why his life sucks. Jerry tells him, “If every instinct you have is wrong, then the opposite would have to be right!”
George decides to do the exact opposite of everything he would usually do. As a result, he lands a date with a beautiful woman, gets a new job and moves out of his parents’ house.
Watch a clip from “The Opposite” here.
When everything is going WRONG in your wedding business, there’s an easy way to fix it:
Do the opposite.
What do you usually do when you run into an obstacle or challenge in life?
The first thing we do is more of the same. We’re like toddlers playing with one those shape puzzle toys, trying to get the triangle to fit inside the circle hole. If at first we don’t succeed, try, try again. And we keep getting the same, stuck result.
Where Are You Like George Costanza?
When I arrive to a party with a group of people I don’t know, I usually clam up. Shock! Dismay. Horror! That’s right; the mistress of ceremonies is a wall flower.
Give me a microphone or put me in front of a video camera and I’m a regular chatterbox. But a cocktail party? I’m quaking in my boots.
So I decided to try something different. I know the result of clamming up at a party: I don’t meet anyone new, I have short, boring conversations, and end up leaving early.
What if I decided to do the exact OPPOSITE of what I would normally do?
Instead of hiding in a corner behind my social butterfly husband, I pick out the most popular person in the room…the one I would never approach in Non-Opposite world…and strike up a conversation.
Lo and behold, she likes me! She’s interesting and interested. I leave with a new friend.
If what you’re doing right now isn’t working, pretty much anything else you do has a better chance of working that what you’re doing right now that DOESN’T work.
Sure, the opposite might not be the best course of action, but it’s headed in the right direction. Simply imagining the opposite behavior shocks you out of old, stuck patterns and ushers in new possibilities and new results.
It works!
Play the Opposite Game
Think about the biggest problem in your wedding business. What would you normally do to try to solve it?
Quit doing that, immediately! Instead, try the opposite.
If you’d normally talk to the same two people you already know at a networking meeting, challenge yourself to meet four new wedding pros. If you usually talk about yourself, close your mouth and just listen.
If you would normally NEVER ask for the sale at a meeting, make a commitment to ask for the booking with the very next couple you meet.
When what you’re doing right now isn’t working, try the opposite. It’s a great way to inspire yourself and get new results.
What’s your best trick for solving a problem?