Opportunities to grow and improve are around you every day, but you often miss them. Why? Because it’s easy to miss the signs of opportunity. Much of the time we simply don’t have the eyes to see the opportunity. Instead, we take a drama-perspective. When something is holding us back, we see an obstacle instead of a stepping stone. I’ve compiled a short list of opportunities that most of us miss.
- The opportunity to actually lose weight is at the point when you are hungry.
- The opportunity to work on your anger problem is the point when someone makes you furious.
- The opportunity to save money happens when there’s a big sale that you can’t resist.
- The opportunity to stop being defensive is the moment when someone criticizes you.
- The opportunity to become a better listener is at the moment you can’t wait to speak.
One of the fastest ways to self-improvement in any area is to work with the invisible: the way you interpret information. You can see your challenges as barriers, or you can start to notice that the moment the challenge is the greatest, is also your greatest opportunity for growth. Almost any barrier that’s really holding you back is a thought pattern or some addictive behavior you have yet been unable to overcome. The growth happens when you find the part of yourself that is in charge and can change direction at will instead of being pulled by unconscious habits.
Opportunity almost never knocks when it’s easy or convenient.
The opportunity to break any addiction is the point when your craving is almost unbearable.
Image above courtesy of Pixabay
Marlene Chism is an executive educator, consultant, and author of Stop Workplace Drama, (Wiley 2011) and No-Drama Leadership (Bibliomotion 2015). She works with executives, and high-performing leaders who want to transform culture in the workplace. To explore opportunities please email marlene@marlenechism.com
