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Are You Crisis-Minded or Opportunity-Minded
| Guest post by: Sam Allman |
Article Overview: Today, the economic boom has gone. What’s your attitude? Are you thinking “doom and gloom”? Or are you thinking “hidden opportunity”? I believe our attitude and thoughts are a bigger problem than the external economy. An African proverb states it well: “It’s hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your mind.”
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Are You Crisis-Minded or Opportunity-Minded
There is no question these are tough economic times. "These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now deserves the love and thanks of man and woman." Thomas Paine wrote these words in the winter of 1776, as George Washington's army, battered by defeats in New York and New Jersey, teetered between dedication and desertion.
Washington’s soldiers were of two minds. Some, crisis-minded soldiers had expected they would defeat the enemy. They had not expected the reverses and difficult conditions. When defeat struck, they reacted with fear, denial, or complacency. They sat immobilized.
Others, opportunity-minded soldiers, had expected they would encounter troubling conditions quite worse from any they had known. The horrid conditions discomforted them, too. But, instead of shutting down, they harnessed the discomfort to trigger their ingenuity and all their internal resources. (In modern terms, we say they put their coping mechanisms to work.) Rather than simply resenting the staggering problem, they accepted it as an opportunity to overcome for themselves and their countrymen. Perhaps, they took heart from another statement Thomas Paine had written: “[Crises] bring things and men to light, which might otherwise have lain forever undiscovered.” They had confidence in their own potential to overcome.
Applying courage and wits, they addressed the reality and engaged the change. They thought themselves masters of even this desperate situation. With hope, they sought ways to survive. A century later, Charles Darwin would conclude that this choice to adjust and cope is the best strategy: “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”
Today, the economic boom has gone. What’s your attitude? Are you thinking “doom and gloom”? Or are you thinking “hidden opportunity”? I believe our attitude and thoughts are a bigger problem than the external economy. An African proverb states it well: “It’s hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your mind.”
The ancient Greeks believed that we can actually improve our future by developing our abilities and acting in ways that yield positive benefits long-term. The Greeks knew that no one’s plans ever fully materialize. Instead, they urged their citizens: 1) to prepare themselves for all eventualities; and 2) to make choices today that would give them resources for tomorrow’s unknowns. You should seek this combination to survive this disruptive time in our own industry.
Opportunity-minded individuals look at the same half glass of water, but see it differently than the crisis-minded. Winston Churchill, kept his British people hopeful throughout the dreadful bombings and threatened invasion during World War II, encouraged them with this gem: “An optimist sees an opportunity in every calamity; a pessimist sees a calamity in every opportunity.”
When resilient people meet a change that showers adversity, ambiguity, anxiety and loss of control, they experience the same apprehension as crisis-minded people. It’s their reactions to these feelings that differ. Resilient businesses orient quickly to changing circumstances. They choose to grapple with the opposition even when the future is ambiguous. They apply all their resources to grow stronger; and they persist until they lift themselves up to a profitable position. They see the challenge not as a heavy beam on their shoulder that weighs them down, but as a pole they can use to vault over the obstacle. The challenge strengthens and energizes them; does not demoralize them.
Optimism brings its own reward. Optimistic or opportunity-minded people produce more in all areas of their lives and stay healthier. They see problems as opportunities, work with more focus, achieve more, encourage those working around them, find themselves in less conflict, and feel more enthusiastic about work. One way they empower themselves and others is to use positive and re-enforcing language.
So, how’s your thinking? If you want to think more optimistically, consider these three actions.
• Look for the silver lining – look for opportunities
• Learn from these trying times
• Take action to convert any misfortune into progress
In the silver-lining department, what good do you think you can draw from these “trying times?” Might you improve your market share where competitors have closed or will close? Might you find other selling opportunities or markets you had not entered because you were too busy? Might you find some waste in your business that has been costing you thousands of dollars—costs that you had been too busy to uncover in good times?
Next, what can you learn about running your business more effectively? I have learned much more from my failures than from my successes. My divorce, the biggest failure of my life, taught me more about life and marriage than eighteen years of a successful marriage. When Thomas Edison was asked about his failed attempts to create an electric light bulb, he showed no discouragement. Rather, he responded: "We now know a thousand ways not to build a light bulb." What can you learn from the failures in your business and in competitors’ companies about running a business better?
Finally, what can you do to turn misfortune into progress? It’s the perfect time to be procreactive™. When you find new business and opportunities, study them and go for those that appear profitable.
Look to find opportunities to grow, take market share, find new products for established customers, etc. Crisis-minded people think successful people are just lucky. But I think “the lucky” create their luck. “Those who win, expect to win, and so make their own luck.” They believe the grass is not greener on the other side of the fence, but is greener where you water it.
The opportunity minded are not Pollyannaish. They are fully aware of problems and that’s exactly where they look for solutions. They know about difficulties, but believe they can be overcome. They see the negatives, but accentuate the positives. They are exposed to the worst, but expect the best. Like you and me, they have reason to complain, but choose to smile. Francis Bacon would consider them wise: “A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.”
Will your business be the one who doesn’t recognize opportunity until you see it working for a competitor? Or will you treat this time as a challenge, seize it as an opportunity, and prosper from it? I recommend you be opportunity-minded. What have you got to lose?
Article Tags: 1776, charles darwin, complacency, coping mechanisms, countrymen, crises, desertion, desperate situation, doom and gloom, economic boom, economic times, george washington, hidden opportunity, ingenuity, internal resources, man and woman, summer soldier, sunshine patriot, thomas paine, wits
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About the Author: Sam Allman RSS for Sam's articles - Visit Sam's website Click here to visit Sam's website   Build Customers Trust in You by Listening and Learning If you were put on trial as an expert Taking Control of the Fear Choosing the Selling Attitude Are you Proactive or Procreactive |
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