In A Shot Of Optimism, Uncategorized

How to break free from the tyranny of thoughts that play on a loop in your brain …

When Myrko Thrum did his top ten list of best Buddha quotes a few years ago, the first one was paraphrased as: What you focus on grows.

Sometimes that’s a good thing.  But sometimes that parable works in reverse and can wind up threatening your business and your life, taking away those moments of creative musings and out-of-the-box ideas and leaving you drained and exhausted.

For several years, I’ve been working with the successful CEO of a thriving construction firm, doing strategic planning and execution with him and his leadership team.  While we worked together, I watched them come together to increase their most profitable market segment, raise standards and generally make more money than ever before and have more fun.  And then… they were awarded a huge contract, and though we thought that was a good thing at the beginning, that client would soon become known as “the project from hell”.   Whatever they did, the client was never happy.  Rather than help manage a successful project, he seemed to just want to show how powerful he was.  Never satisfied, he changed his mind every day and the team found themselves running around, trying to please him.  As a result?  Their focus got all out of whack.

So focused on managing this one client, they lost momentum on their other great initiatives.  All they could talk about in their meetings was “the project from hell”.  When I went for my monthly sit down, the CEO looked like he needed a serious vacation.  “Thank goodness ‘the project from hell’ is over!” he said.  Everyone agreed it had been a huge strain on the company and worst of all, everyone had been focused on that project and hardly anything else.  “I had to work hard to keep that project from being the only focus,” the CEO told me later.

“What did you do?” I asked.

With a twinkle in his blue eyes, he drew a sheet of paper from his portfolio, took out a pen and started drawing something so small, I couldn’t imagine what it was.  A few minutes later he held up the paper by the corners and asked me what I saw.  Squinting, I said it might be a mosquito, I couldn’t tell.

“What you see,” he said.  “Is a piece of paper with tiny letters spelling out the name of the project from hell.  I did the same exercise with my team, and they responded the same way you did.”  Everyone had been so focused on this one thing, they forgot how tiny it was in relation to the big picture.

It’s so easy to get stuck focusing on what’s not working, what’s irritating, what’s wrong, that we forget there’s actually a whole “big piece of paper”– the other parts of our life that are out there, ready to be explored.

If you find yourself focusing on what’s wrong in your life–a break-up or a not-your-dream job– don’t forget to keep focusing on the parts of your life that do work, the parts that give you energy and optimism.  Remember, what you focus on grows.  If we only focus on what’s not working, we’re cheated of the joy, satisfaction, relaxation, and peace that comes with seeing the whole picture.

Just for this week, focus on what works, and let me know what you discover!

Until Next Tuesday,

YIPPEE!

Elizabeth

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