No one likes change but a baby, especially me. I have been married for 30 years, had the same hairstyle since the early 80’s (only thinner), both of our cars have over 230,000 miles, and I have had the same job for 19 years. But this past week I took a risk, changed something in my life, and it turned out pretty good.
I have also lived in the same home since 2003. When we moved here, it was a new subdivision. As a result, everything was brand new. The grass was new. The trees were new. The shrubs were new. The appliances were new. Everything was new.
But an interesting thing happened over the next decade…
As the trees grew taller and taller, the expansive shade killed the grass under it. The barren parts in my yard resulted in letters from our homeowners association. It was frustrating because the grass they planted under the trees they planted was killed and resulted in threatening letters containing terms like “lien”. I managed this issue for several years with extensive yard work but have just grown sick of it.
It was time for the trees to come down, my beloved trees of 15 years, and just deal with the issue. It was time for change.
I hired Efren’s Tree Services LLC to take down the trees and give my yard a permanent facelift. The following are 6 Things Which Make Change Worth Doing I learned from this experience:
- Change Is Worth Doing When It Becomes Necessary – Typically, I change only when forced to. Maybe you are better at this than I am. But I knew if I didn’t make significant steps towards improvements in my yard, the homeowners association would be making recommendations for improvements for me. And let’s just say their recommendations would be quite costly.
- Change Is Worth Doing When Recommended By A Trusted Voice – Efren was recommended by a friend who had his team take down approximately a dozen trees in his own yard. He had also recommended Efren to several other families who had wonderful experiences as well. A reference sale is the best sale.
- Change Is Worth Doing When Your Confidence In The Process Grows – When I reached out to Efren he was very timely in his initial follow-up to messages and coming to our home for estimates. He was very professional and made recommendations I did not even think of.
- Change Is Worth Doing When The Price Is Acceptable – This is where plans to change usually go to die. Often, the price for change is not worth paying. Even though taking trees down and laying sod is quite expensive, I felt the price Efren quoted was more than fair. This was just another step in my growing confidence in him.
- Change Is Worth Doing When Done In Partnership With Experts – As you can see in the pictures above, Efren’s team were experts. In fact, they were artists. They were efficient, timely, and masters of their craft.
- Change Is Worth Doing When You See The Results – Bottom line, my yard has never looked better. When I turn down my street, I am very proud to look at my yard. I will be hiring his team for additional projects this fall.
Moving forward, when considering if it is time for a change or not, I will ask the following questions:
- Is it necessary?
- Am I getting good recommendations on who to help me?
- Do I have high confidence in the process after meeting them?
- Am I willing to pay the price?
- Are my partners in the process experts?
- Will I enjoy the results?
If the answer to each of these six questions is “Yes”, it is time to change.
This process of change was a great experience for me. Will it make me more open to the idea of change in the future? I don’t know. No one likes change but a baby. Especially still me.
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