When challenges arise, consider changing the routine.

I learned to swim when I was a kid. I learned through swim lessons so I could play safely at a pool or go to the lake and ocean with my family. I did not learn from being on a swim team, so while I could swim, I definitely did not think I would call myself a "swimmer", like folks on a swim team or those fantastic athletes in the Olympics.

I became a parent. I took my kids to swim lessons. So they could swim safely at the pool, lake, and ocean.

Then we moved to a place (or the world changed?) where my kids could be on a swim team. I watched both of my kids become incredibly efficient swimmers and I realized it would be a great form of exercise. But, I wasn't a swimmer, and I was a busy mom, and when would I have time for that? I was already regularly exercising with a local fitness group in a boot camp style workout.

Then, in one year, I twisted my knee, sprained an ankle that took forever to heal, and I broke my tibia and fibula. I decided it was time to think about swimming.

1. I got a coach: my son. I mean, after all those years of paying for him to swim, why not benefit myself? I hired him to teach me basic strokes.

2. I joined the local YMCA where I had access to a pool.

3. I realized I had 1.5 hours to kill in the morning when my son swam. So, I swam. SLOWLY.

I would go from one side of the pool to the other and take a breather.

Within a week, I noticed I could go from one side, touch, and then go to the other side (50 meters). I did this for a few weeks with breaks between the 50s, then eventually 75 meters.

Then, one day, I did a 100 meter without a break (back and forth FOUR times). After that workout (where I did a few 50s, 75s, and that 100), I was sitting in the chair by the pool drying off and I smiled. The lifeguard came by and said, "You look happy with your workout." I was! I was so happy with myself. I could not believe I did it. This was the moment I thought, I can call myself a swimmer.

Now, I swim regularly and I do flip turns. It has become my favorite exercise.

I was successful because I made swimming a routine. I made it a part of my day. There was no decision of what I should do during that time slot every morning, it was a routine that resulted in progress.

Progress in your business is about building and refining routines. I have routines I do in fabrication and routines for managing the actual business of it. Those routines bring freedom in decision making - there is no choice of what to do: A client wants a drapery panel, and the routine for drapery is:

• Estimation

• Project Management

• Fabrication

• Installation

• Billing

This is why corporations work. There are so many routines in business, and even sub-routines within that routine! Even if there are changes to something, the change process is a routine.

So, I challenge you when you look at your own business and life. What are the routines? Are those routines working for you? If not, why aren't they, and what can you do to refine them? Continue the art of refinement, and in no time you will be surprised at how far you have come.