Economic and political events challenge many of us to examine our values and are make us anxious about the future. It is an uncomfortable fact that the more anxious and fearful of the future we are, the more we will seem to bring "that which we fear most” into our reality.
Fear causes people to withdraw into themselves. Physiologically it inhibits clarity of thought and leads to feelings of isolation and hopelessness. In business, fear is corrosive of success and keeps everyone focused on challenges rather than opportunity. This short article is just a reminder of some strategies of where and how to refocus when you face challenge in your business or your life.
Focus on gratitude for what you have
When I am out talking to people about our own business I often hear comments like “I would hate to be in your business – it’s so competitive.” However, I would be concerned if we had no competition. I’m grateful for competition and the challenge because it makes sure that we always strive to add value.
I learned the importance of gratitude fifteen years ago when a friend of mine raised £1m of venture capital for a fantastic new software distribution and protection technology. He had no competition. Sadly six months later he had no business and a lot of personal debt because the marketplace simply didn’t seem to want what he had to offer. Today, this self-same technology is everywhere.
At the time, my friend told me that he had a fundamental choice to complain and worry or to be grateful for everything he learned through the experience. Complaining attracts just negative thoughts and negative people – whereas a decision to hold an attitude of gratitude creates a state of mind for new opportunity, the best possilbe actions and greater results to emerge. In each situation, even when times are tough, we can choose to focus on everything we are grateful for and then we keep ourselves open for even greater opportunity.
Focus on others
When people are fearful of change they tend to withdraw into themselves which leads to feelings of isolation and hopelessness. What they need to do is actually move toward greater connection with other people. If you are responsible for others, despite the fact that you could feel the challenge just as deeply, you need to encourage your team.
The more you can contribute by supporting and bringing others together, the less you will need to worry about your own situation. You can choose to be a leader and a source of confidence for everyone else. Confidence is infectious too.
Focus on relationships
It is natural for people to become emotionally attached to the things they do, the jobs they hold and even the things they sell. In a sense, we often unconsciously define ourselves by these “commodities” and become uncomfortable when circumstances conspire to rock the boat. A positive response here is to let go of these feelings and focus instead on strengthening the power and possibility of all of your relationships – start with your family, friends, business team, clients, suppliers and prospects. When you strengthen a relationship, the viability of the commodity you offer will strengthen without you needing to directly focus on it.
Create value first – sales second
Here is strategy for those of us involved in selling products and services. Non of us likes being sold. When did you last say to yourself, “I must go to the car dealership and get sold a car?”
This is especially true when things are tough because your prospect is likely to be focusing on the problems they face and not so much their opportunities. The key then is to provide real value in your sales encounters. People always want value creation – solutions that help them eliminate dangers and move toward opportunities. When your focus is less on your products and more on helping your prospects eliminate problems and exploit opportunities, sales must naturally follow.
Focus on your opportunities
One aspect of human behaviour is that we have a fundamental need for certainty – even comfort - about the things we know, do and have. We love the familiar and tried and tested. In times of change, this certainty is challenged and most of us don’t like being forced to change.
Some of the things you took for granted, some of the things you had, may now have disappeared for ever. All around you are people who will never get over this. They will keep trying to replay their old ways of being and doing.
A far better strategy is to start an entirely new game using some new ideas, new energies, new tools and new resources. Understand that as well as a need for certainty we all have a fundamental need for excitement and change if we want to be satisfied with work and life.
Focus on progress
Nothing worthwhile was ever gained without effort. Have you ever noticed that whenever you have a worthwhile goal, obstacles tend to show up? Too many people interpret these obstacles as “can’t do” and before long can’t do becomes an unshakeable belief. The empowering way to look upon obstacles is that they are there to show us how we need to grow and develop.
If your ambition is to win the lottery, you might not understand this, but to me material success is great but its only how we keep the score. Real success is felt deep inside as a result of meeting and overcoming personal challenge and balancing some fundamental human needs. The process and the journey can be much more important than achieving a goal.
The problem for many people is that they let challenge beat them up and then they stop trying. We know that when we gradually increase the load on muscles through physical exercise those muscles get stronger; this is true when you are 17 and it’s true when you are 70. The same thing is true of the muscles of the mind, spirit and character. We need to treat challenge as the time when we can make our greatest progress as human beings.
Focus on what can be done now
Many of us are keen to set goals for the future but forget that we still have to take action now. The only future that we can count on is the one that we create for ourselves through each day’s efforts and results. However, when things are going well it’s easy to delude ourselves into believing that we are in direct control of events. When things turn bad we suddenly notice that many desirable resources – like information, personnel, systems and capabilities – are missing.
Noticing these missing resources can paralyse many managers who believe that they can’t take effective decisions or actions in these circumstances. A useful strategic response is to notice that it is always useful to make as much daily progress as possible. Working with every resource and opportunity at hand, no matter how small, will build confidence and with confidence comes momentum and a different perspective on possibility.
Imagine a scenario in which an outdoors-loving President gets together with three of the most powerful industrialists in the Western world at a campsite in the mountains of Western Maryland, where the three ride horses, shoot rifles, chop wood and eat and sleep in tents beside a babbling brook.
