I heard a quote years ago that shifted the way I look at challenging situations. It was such a formative idea in my personal development that I thought it might be a good blog entry. The quote was on a CD by a speaker named Jim Rohn called “The Art of Exceptional Living”. I can still hear Jim’s unique voice ringing in my head when he said “don’t wish it were easier… wish that you were better!”
I have a funny anecdotal story to share about an experience I had related to this idea some years ago. When I got my first windows laptop, they came with a solitaire card game on them called “FreeCell”. I spent a lot of time on planes at that point in my career and I ended up playing a lot of FreeCell. Then one day I read an article that explained that every FreeCell game was possible to win – every randomly generated game was winnable. Up to that point my win rate (the game kept track of this) was probably around 85%. Overnight my win rate became about 99%. What happened?
I’ve had and witnessed other similar experiences in life since that day. It is truly remarkable how we behave once we know that success or failure are a statement about our abilities and not about luck, or economic conditions, or foreign competition or whatever.
What would happen if someone you trusted and believed told you that the situation you find yourself in…
- lagging sales
- losing deals to competitors
- employee issues
- customer issues
was winnable… that if you were better, that you could turn that situation around. Not just fix the problem but turn the situation around in such a way that it becomes a positive asset for your company. For me, once I see a situation from that perspective, it’s as if I find another gear – it creates a deep well of persistence and focus and an intense pursuit of the solution. I become desperate to find the “answer” once I believe that my performance is solely a statement about me.
But who’s to say that your situation isn’t impossible? Sometimes we need an outside perspective to help us see how to impact a situation and believe in our ability to do it. Here are a few thoughts.
1. It’s really important to associate with people who expand our concepts of what is possible – who help us grow and expect more out of ourselves. It is amazing what we can accomplish once we BELIEVE that we are able to do something.
2. Don’t talk to the naysayers – you make their lives easier by your failure, but if you succeed it creates that same pressure for them that their performance is a statement about them, not about what is possible.
3. Whatever is keeping you awake at night… I assure you that there is someone in the world who could easily handle that situation – make lemonade from your lemons. Don’t wish that it were easier, wish that you were better.
Sometimes getting better means kicking around some thoughts and ideas with someone. I’d love to have that conversation with you. Let’s talk.
Please leave your thoughts in a comment below, and if you liked the video/post please tell me by pressing the “Like” button on the YouTube page. Thanks!
About the Author
