Do You Find Problems or Gifts In Your Business?
Article date: Nov 19 2014
Marcus Straub
In every business there are situations that can be
perceived as problems, challenges, opportunities and even gifts. The
choices you make in your perception of situations as they present
themselves affect how you handle them, and therefore, the outcomes you
create.
If I were to put four boxes on a table, each beautifully
wrapped, and explained that the first box contained a problem, the
second a challenge, the third an opportunity and the fourth a gift,
which would you choose to open first? Most people — 82 percent, in fact —
would choose to open the box with the gift first. These same people
would also open the box with the problem last.
Why? The reason is simple: Most people would rather
embrace a gift and avoid a problem. We don’t want problems because
they’re perceived as unpleasant interruptions to our happiness and
success. Even if you, the business owner, choose the problem first, your
team members most likely won’t. Gifts, on the other hand, are exciting
and typically bring something into our life that’s pleasant and fun.
Problems are not usually perceived as being enjoyable.
It’s our avoidance of, and negative attitude about,
“problems” that must be overcome if we are to create greater happiness
and success on a consistent basis. The key to this lies in changing your
perception of reality.
As the business owner and leader of your company, it’s
imperative you choose to perceive every circumstance that faces your
organization in the most positive and constructive way you can. A
powerful first step is to be profoundly grateful for the fact you have a
business. From there, choose to be grateful for the very situation you
face, what it will teach you and for the fact you’re alive and capable
of effectively working through it. A grateful mindset works wonders in
gaining an optimistic perspective of whatever we face.
The next step is to put down the “problem” concept in your
own mind. Instead, adopt a new perspective in which what you have in
front of you is viewed merely as another situation to be effectively
handled. This simple, yet powerful, choice reduces your tendency to
react with avoidance, procrastination, disappointment, frustration and
even anger. With this new perspective, you’ll be able to address each
situation in a more timely manner, with greater effectiveness and less
suffering.
Another powerful attribute to cultivate is a
solution-based mindset. This will allow you to embrace situations as
they arise and immediately begin working toward effective solutions.
Remember, when we perceive something as a “problem,” we avoid it. This
doesn’t create the necessary solution, but
rather prolongs discomfort and delays the inevitable. Until a solution
is created, the situation persists. There’s a solution to every
situation you’ll ever face in life and business as long as you’re
willing to look for one and implement it.
With your strong and consistent example of gratitude and
solution-based mindset, in time team members will follow your lead.
They, too, will take on a more positive perspective of the situations
they face and go after solutions more and more on their own and with
greater confidence. Your business will endure fewer and fewer
interruptions, the environment will become more positive, your team will
grow stronger and more happiness and success will be available to all.
The businesses owners with which I work are continually
astounded by the power of this approach. Once it has been learned and
applied on a consistent basis, the overall operations of the company
change for the better. When you and your team put down problems and pick
up your gifts, you’ll experience an abundance of energy and increased
motivation due to a strong desire to create solutions with the gifts
you’ve been given. This, in turn, leads to higher production, more
efficiency, greater satisfaction for everyone and increased personal and
professional results.
As you become more grateful and continue to grow a more
powerful mindset about the reality of doing business, you’ll come to
perceive fewer problems. Over time, with practice and as you become
stronger, you can move from situations to be effectively dealt with
toward challenges to be faced, then onto opportunities to be embraced.
Ultimately, everything you face will be seen as a gift to be received.
I wish you a grateful spirit, an abundant mindset, a
joyful heart and all the happiness and success you desire. Happy
Thanksgiving to you.
