ebernick In my earlier blog entitled INVEST IN YOUR POTENTIAL, I outlined my formula for a ‘catalyst’ to “bring out your inner potential”. This catalyst is in the form of an acronym, where each letter in the word INVEST refers to an element of investing in your potential.
The blog then explained the first element, namely INSPIRATION. Now for the N. No Problems, Only Opportunities.
I am not suggesting we pretend that there are no problems. Rather, I am recommending that we view problems as presenting us with opportunities. Each time you have a problem, ask yourself:
- What is the problem trying to tell me?
- Where is there an opportunity for me to grow, stretch and learn?
- What is behind the problem?
- What other doors of opportunity might be opening for me right now?
- Am I looking for opportunities?
Wilma Rudolph was born black and poor in the depressed-stricken era in Tennessee in the late ‘30s. To compound matters, at the age of ten she was afflicted with polio. Wilma chose to surmount these problems and went on to win three gold medals in the track and field events in the 1960 Rome Olympics.
Closer to home, I was working with a franchised organisation earlier this year. One of their franchisees on the West Rand, Michael, had a monthly contract with SASKO valued at R85 000 per month. SASKO however, decided to put out a national tender for these services to standardise their service provider. Michael’s company was unsuccessful in winning the tender (I guess you can’t win them all), and I had to break the news to Michael that he was going to lose his R85 000 monthly contract (+/- 15% of his turnover).
When Michael received the news, almost without pause, he replied to me, “No problem Eberhard, I will just have to find other work to replace it with”.
At the annual national conference Michael’s company had in May, he won the ‘Franchisee of the Year’ award. His business had grown by over 15% despite having lost such a big contract! Do you think Michael would have achieved such success if he allowed the problem of losing a big contract to consume him and profile him as a “victim”? No, rather, Michael chose not to ‘stare the problem in the face’, but to look for other doors of opportunity.
Yes, there are loads of opportunities out there. However, it must be kept in mind that opportunities do not stand up in front of us, waving a flag, as it were, to draw attention to themselves. Rather, they come disguised as problems and failures.
If you are willing to approach problems with this new mind set, you will be pleasantly surprised at the opportunities you will find.
In the ensuing blog to this sequel, we will explore the next letter in INVEST, namely “V” (VISION)
I = INSPIRATION
N = NO PROBLEMS, ONLY OPPORTUNITIES
V = VISION
E =
S =
T =
(Eberhard Niklaus does motivational talks at conferences and public events, as well as Team Coaching using StrengthsFinder techniques based on over 50 years research done by Gallup scientists)
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