Perspective is everything when you’re dealing with the challenges of business. One moment everything is going along fine and the next someone or something throws you a “curve ball” and it seems like your whole world is coming apart. It can be frustrating, but there’s a simple formula that will pull you through it every time if you’re willing to do what it takes.
As my week was coming to an end and I had some time to catch up on some reading, I picked up a newspaper and flipped through the pages scanning for something of interest. My eyes caught a familiar face, in a four by five inch advertisement below the fold on page 5. My stomach flinched and my brow curled as I gazed upon a competitor’s ad, claiming to be working in my space. “How dare he”? I thought” in my surprisingly loud internal voice!
Just as I was feeling awesome about my progress, this emotional dagger was thrust into my chest turning my bliss into a roller coaster of anger….Full stop!!! What was actually happening? What was I thinking and feeling and where was it leading to? In the moment, I seized my power, and shifted my thoughts, to “That’s interesting; he must be desperate for business to be going in that direction. I don’t think that’s what he’s good at, certainly not as good as me”. My heart stopped racing, by anger subsided and my celebratory mood marched forward.
“It is in our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light” ~Aristotle Onassis
Don’t get me wrong, I will take note of the new development and let it amp up my healthy competitive spirit, but I won’t let it hijack my feelings and take me off my game. The formula is; thoughts, feelings and behaviours – always in that order. When you’re thrown a curve ball, and your thoughts are in danger of being hijacked, simply pause and change you’re your perspective by looking at it differently – in a way that serves you.
What would it be worth to you to master this habit?
Clint Best is a business coach and the founder of Kaizen Business Coaching in Kelowna, BC. Clint has been guiding forward thinking business owners through change and growth since 2002.