People are going to do things that piss you off.
Friends, family, suppliers and clients have their own agenda and despite your best efforts to control the world around you things are going to happen that make your blood pressure rise. While you have virtually zero control of what happens to you, you do have the power to choose your response.
I'm a sensible, analytical person and in theory I've known for a long time that I have the power to choose my reaction to a situation. The problem is that this knowledge was purely academic. It really clicked into place in my overstressed brain when I took some time over December 2013 to step back from my frantic rat race lifestyle to recharge.
Sitting in a hammock, sipping coffee I read Austrian Psychologist and Neuroscientist Viktor Frankl's book "Man's Search for Meaning". Frankl's main message in the book is that between stimulus (what happens to us) and response (how we choose to react) we have the power to choose. What gives his message weight? He is a survivor of the Holocaust who spent a large chunk of his life in Nazi death camps. If this man could do it, despite his circumstances - what is our excuse?
Doing things the way we've always done them is easy. Effortless. Just slip into that groove that you've carved out by repeating the same behaviour over and over. Breaking old habits and doing the things you know you should be doing to move forward is not easy. Sometimes we don't even understand our true drivers or motivators. Why do we do what we do? Romans 7:15 sums this dilemma up well:
"For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate."
Slipping into old patterns is easy. Getting out of them...hmmm...not so much.
The first step on the road to change is being realistic about where you are right now, and how you got there - be it your personal or professional life. Don't get stuck in excessive introspection though. The "looking in" part is only effective its coupled with "looking out". What circumstances do you find yourself in, and how can you make an impact for the benefit of others in those circumstances?
Essentially its about relationships. About making a difference where you are. About being the best you that you can be. Be brutally honest with yourself about what needs to change in your mindset today and start consciously exercising your power to choose.
Go and make a difference this week!
As usual, you've summed it up succinctly. We have the power to hit reset on our emotional states and 'run the day' rather than let the day run us! And as entrepreneurs, this is critical to our success because it takes huge emotional energy to drive new ventures and cultivate growth in existing businesses. Sometimes, all it takes as you say Denise, is that moment of looking in before looking out. Great read. Thank you.
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